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HOME ENTERTAINING 

What To Do and How To Do It 



HOME 
ENTERTAINING 



AMUSEMENTS FOR EVERY ONE 



EDITED BY 

WILLIAM E. CHENERY 




BOSTON 
LOTHROP. LEE & SHEPARD CO. 






Published, August, 1912 



Copyright, 19 12, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 



All Rights Reserved 



Home Entertaining 



iftorijTOotJ Press 

Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U. S. A. 



CC!.A3l641 



PREFACE 

This collection of games, tricks, and pas- 
times is the result of many years' effort to find 
the most clever and practical diversions and 
entertainments suitable for the home. Each 
trick has been tested by the editor, and each 
sport introduced has received most careful 
consideration in regard to ease of production, 
as well as the enjoyment to be gained from it. 

As no refined person of any age can find 
amusement in coarseness, great care has been 
exercised in presenting only such diversions 
as are to be welcomed in a refined home circle. 
The necessity for elaborate apparatus has also 
been avoided, so that with dullness, difficulty, 
expense, and ill-taste eliminated, it is felt that 
this collection will supply a lack which has 
always existed, as the many who have sought 
in vain for a bright, safe, and up-to-date book 



vi PREFACE 

of really feasible entertainments will appre- 
ciate. 

While this book contains much that is origi- 
nal, especially in descriptive matter and ways 
of presentation, it has of course been necessary 
to draw freely from the accumulated mass of 
tricks and '' sells " that have in some form or 
other come down from unknown times, and are 
recognized as being the common property of 
any who take pains to learn them. As a matter 
of courtesy, due acknowledgement is hereby 
made to all who have preceded me in this line 
of work. 

A word of general advice to the amateur 
entertainer may be in order. Never tell the 
company what you are about to do, unless the 
very nature of a trick demands that its outcome 
be stated in advance. In this case, do it as 
guardedly as possible. If you state that you 
are to perform a certain trick, you thereby 
greatly increase the chance of detection, as 
the spectators will know what to look for, and 
in that way will more readily arrive at the true 



PREFACE vii 

method of bringing about the results. Do not 
allow yourself to be persuaded into performing 
a trick twice in an evening. With the element 
of surprise gone, the best performance loses 
much of its effect. Finally, remember that a 
great deal depends upon the personality of the 
entertainer. An easy flow of pleasantries, which 
may or may not have to do with what is being 
performed, adds to the entertainment of the 
company, and at the same time helps much in 
diverting the attention of your friends from 
too close a scrutiny of your proceedings. 

William E. Chenery. 

Framingham, Mass., 
May, 191 2. 



CONTENTS 



The Magnetic Ring . 

To Tell the Hour 

The Spirit Calculator 

The Square of Sixteen Numbers 

The Square of Nine Digits 

Making a Bird Enter a Cage . 

The Handkerchief Snake 

To Pass Your Body Through a Postal 

Silhouettes 

Gymnastics for the Tongue 

The Passenger to Boulogne 

Mind- reading .... 

Blowing a Card on Twine 

Naming a Card .... 

A Horse Race .... 

A Jam-eating Contest 

A Potato Race .... 

Guessing Contests 

A Phonograph Concert . 

To Lift Fifteen Matches with One 

A Donkey Party 

The Dwarf Exhibit . 

Stick-and-Pea Amusement 

An Introduction to the Doll Family 



Card 



PAGE 

I 
2 

3 

5 

5 
6 

6 

7 
8 

9 
9 

lO 
12 
12 
14 

IS 

15 
i6 

17 
i8 

19 
19 

22 
22 



IX 



CONTENTS 

«. PAGE 

Second Sight 24 

The BUnd Feeding the Blind . . . .25 

An Amateur Vaudeville 25 

The Elusive Coin 25 

Novel Paper-cutting 26 

The Mysterious Remainder . . . . 27 

Home Field-Sports 29 

(a) One-yard Dash 29 

(b) Tug of War 29 

(c) Standing High Jump ... 29 

(d) Hurdle Race 29 

(e) Drinking Race 30 

(f) Bun Race 30 

(g) Cracker-eating Contest . . 30 
(h) Rainy-Day Race .... 30 

The Gentlemen Nurse-Maids . . . .31 

New Year's Resolutions for Others . . ' 32 

Can You Draw a Watch-face? • • • 33 

The Endless Thread 34 

The Telltale Glass 35 

Pairing Ten Half-dimes 37 

Deceptive Heights 37 

(a) Of a Hat ...... 37 

(b) Of a Barrel 37 

Slang 38 

Observation Contest 39 

The Bargain-counter Game .... 39 

The " Thirty-five " Trick .... 41 

An Ink Shock 42 

Reading from Folded Papers . . . .42 



CONTENTS xi 



PAGE 



Blind Man's Buff with Dominoes ... 43 

^^ My Aunt Has Arrived from Paris '^ . . 44 

Surprising Strength 45 

Card-passing Contest 46 

A Cobweb Tangle 47 

A Novel Masquerade 47 

Hit the Bag 48 

A Pretended Illusion 49 

Dancing Fairies 49 

Describing a Lady's Costume .... 50 

The Wonderful Hat 51 

Mirror-Drawing 51 

The Dancing Skeleton 53 

Pitching Cards at a Hat 54 

Peanut Guessing 54 

Peanut Shelling 54 

Peanut Rolling 55 

The Peanut Hunt 55 

Progressive Peanut Party . . . . 55 

Your Friends in Black 57 

GAMES 

Packing the Trunk 59 

Blowing Ping-pong Balls 60 

Doing the Impossible 60 

The Game of ^^ It " 61 

The Game of '' Turtle " 63 

The Game of " Empty Hands " . . .64 

Simon Says 65 

Passing Bean-bags 66 



xii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Buzz 67 

Can You Laugh? 68 

An Optical Game . . . . . .68 

Blowing the Feather 69 

Throwing the Handkerchief .... 70 

Going to Jerusalem 71 

Find the Whistle 71 

The All-around Story Game .... 72 

An Obstacle Game 72 

Impudence . . 73 

Rolling Chase-ball 74 

TRICKS 

The Sharpers Outwitted 76 

The Raised Hand 78 

Unconscious Movements 78 

The Broken Match Restored .... 79 

The Cent and the Hole 80 

Mysterious Reading 81 

The Baffling Card 83 

A Watch Trick 83 

Silk from Paper 84 

The Obedient Ball 86 

Tricks with a Pen 87 

The Dice and Cup 88 

The Surprising Paper Bands .... 89 

Napkin-ring Trick 89 

The Magical Cups of Tin .... 90 

The Elusive Cork 92 

The Three Pennies 92 



CONTENTS 


xiii 


A Lesson in Gravity .... 


PAGE 

93 


The Tantalizing Half-dollar . 


93 


Drawing Matches to Win 


94 


Eye-errors and Ghosts .... 


96 


The Detaining Hand-clasp 


. 98 


The Pictorial Nail 


• 99 


Cane Trick 


• 99 



PANTOMIMES 

General Directions loi 

Aerial Figures 103 

Silhouettes 105 

Shadow Pictures 106 

Shadow Show 106 



CARD TRICKS 

CalKng the Cards no 

The Odd Card 114 

Naming the Cards 116 

A Diamond Ace of Hearts , . . .117 

A Three-card Trick 118 

Detection by Smell iig 

Naming a Drawn Card 121 

Grouping the Kings 123 

Detecting a Turned Card . . . .124 
Telling the Number of Transposed Cards . 124 

The Three Packets 127 

A Card Found at the Second Guess . . 127 
Pocketing a Chosen Card . . . .128 
To Pick Out a Card Thought Of . . .131 



xiv CONTENTS 

The Siamese Aces .... 
Detection of a Drawn Card by Color 
Mathematical Detection of Card 
Passing a Card to Top of Pack 
The Trick of " Thirty-one " . 



PAGE 

136 

137 
138 
140 



SOAP-BUBBLES 

Blowing Soap-bubbles 142 

Fantastic Soap-bubbles 143 

Rebounding Bubbles 145 

FORFEITS 146 

HALLOWE'EN 

Decorations 149 

Invitations 150 

Receiving Guests . • 150 

The Heads of Bluebeard's Wives . . . 152 

The Severed Head 153 

Ghost Stories 154 

The Unearthly Look 154 

Luminous Writing 155 

The Floating Candle iSS 

Ornamented Apples 156 

Finding the Candle 156 

The Full Moon 156 

Cabinet Manifestations IS7 

Spirit Pictures i57 

Parlor Magic . . . . . . . iS9 

The Demon Bell 161 

The Animated Skull 161 



CONTENTS XV 



PAGE 



The Perilous Ring 162 

Nose and Goggle Party 162 

Jack-o'-lanterns 163 

The Surprising Candle ,163 



Home Entertaining 

What To Do and How To Do It 

The Magnetic Ring. Take a gold ring, — 
the more massive the better. Attach the ring 
to a silk thread about twelve inches long; fasten 
the other end of the thread around the nail- 
joint of your right forefinger, and let the ring 
hang about half an inch above the surface of 
the table, on which you rest your elbow to 
steady your hand. Hold your finger horizon- 
tally, with the thumb thrown back as far as 
possible from the rest of the hand. 

If there be nothing on the table, the ring will 
soon become stationary. Then place some 
silver (say three half-dollars) immediately be- 
low it, when the ring will begin to oscillate 
backwards and forwards, to you and from you. 
Now bring your thumb in contact with your 



2 HOME ENTERTAINING 

forefinger (or else suspend the ring from your 
thumb), and the oscillations will become trans- 
verse to their former swing. Or this may be 
effected by making a lady take hold of your 
disengaged hand. When the transverse motion 
is fairly estabhshed, let a gentleman take hold 
of the lady's disengaged hand, and the ring 
will change back to its former course. These 
effects are produced by the aid of animal mag- 
netic currents given forth by the hands of the 
experimenters. 

To Tell the Hour of the Day or Night by a Sus- 
pended Quarter. Sling a quarter or a dime at 
the end of a piece of thread by means of a loop; 
then, resting your elbow upon a table, hold the 
other end of the thread between your fore- 
finger and thumb, and thus suspend the coin 
in an empty goblet. Observe, your hand must 
be perfectly steady; and if you fimd it difficult 
to keep it in an immovable posture, it is useless 
to attempt the experiment. Premising that the 
quarter is properly suspended, you will find that, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 3 

when it has recovered its equilibrium, it will 
for a moment be stationary; it will then, of its 
own accord and without the least agency from 
the person holding it, assume the action of a 
pendulum, vibrating from side to side of the 
glass, and after a few seconds will strike the 
hour nearest to the time of day. It is necessary 
to observe that the thread should He over the 
pulse of the thumb, and this may in some meas- 
ure account for the vibration of the quarter, 
but to what cause its striking the precise hour 
is to be traced remains unexplained; for it is no 
less astonishing than true that w^hen it has 
struck the proper number its vibration ceases, 
it acquires a kind of rotary motion and finally 
becomes stationary as before. 

The Spirit Calculator. A piece of paper and 
a pencil are handed to the audience, with a 
request that four different persons will each 
write down a row of four figures, one under 
the other, to form an addition sum. The paper 
is then given to a fifth person to add up the 



4 HOME ENTERTAINING 

figures, but before he can call out the result 
the performer writes it down on a blackboard. 

The secret Ues in the fact that the performer 
is in possession of a piece of paper exactly the 
same in every detail as that handed to the 
audience, on which, previous to the entertain- 
ment, he has had four rows of figures writ- 
ten in different handwritings. In the course 
of the entertainment, all is fair and above- 
board until it comes to adding up the sum, 
when the performer, in the act of giving the 
paper to the fifth person, changes it for that 
of his o^vn, with the total of w^hich he is already 
acquainted. He has now^ only to run to the 
stage and write down the answer on the black- 
board. 

A more startling conclusion than the pro- 
saic one above mentioned may be obtained by 
the use of sympathetic ink, composed of sul- 
phuric acid and water, one part of the former 
to three of the latter. Writing done with this 
ink will be invisible until heat be appHed, which 
will bring out the characters in jet black. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 5 

The performer, then, being provided with a 
piece of paper bearing the answer written with 
the invisible ink, gives a plate containing a 
httle alcohol to the person adding up the sum, 
and asks him to set fire to the alcohol, first, 
however, taking careful note of the total. The 
prepared piece of paper is now held over the 
flames caused by igniting the alcohol on the 
plate, when the heat will bring out the answer, 
which is proved to be correct. The greatest 
care should always be exercised in producing 
any kind of flame. 

The Square of Sixteen Numbers, Arrange 
the numbers from i to 1 6 in a square, so that 
the sum of the figures in any row, vertical, hori- 
zontal, or diagonal, will be 34. 



lO 


3 


2 


13 


5 


10 


II 


8 


9 


6 


7 


12 


4 


15 


14 


I 



The Square of Nine Digits. How may 
nine digits be arranged in a rectangular form 



6 HOME ENTERTAINING 

so that the sum of any row, whether horizontal, 
vertical, or diagonal, shall equal 15? 

492 

3 5 7 
8 I 6 

Making a Bird Enter a Cage. Draw upon a 
sheet of paper an empty bird-cage and then 
very near the cage at the right draw a bird. 
The problem is to make this bird enter the cage. 

Place a visiting-card between the two figures, 
holding the card perpendicularly on the paper. 
Press the end of your nose on the border of the 
card and look at the cage and the bird. You 
will thus see the cage with your left eye and the 
bird with your right. But in a moment the 
bird will seem to move, then enter the cage. 

The Handkerchief Snake. A fine black-silk 
thread is stretched across the stage from one 
side to the other, the ends being in the hands of 
two assistants. Having obtained the loan of 
a handkerchief, the performer, standing behind 
the thread, takes it diagonally by two corners 



HOME ENTERTAINING 7 

and twists it up rope fashion. He then ties 
three knots in it, one a Uttle below the centre, 
one a little above the centre, and the third at 
one end. While this is being done, the assist- 
ants raise the thread, around which the last 
knot, forming the head of a snake, is actually 
tied; but owing to the thread being invisible, 
this will pass unobserved. 

Having made the last knot, the performer 
drops the handkerchief on the floor, when its 
imitation of a hve snake will depend entirely 
on the adroit manner in which the assistants 
manipulate the thread. 

Finally, it should be made to jump into the 
hand of the performer, who should at once 
hand it with the knots still tied to the owner. 
This is managed by the assistant at one end 
dropping the thread and the other one pulling 
it clear of the handkerchief. Other tricks may 
be invented. 

To Pass your Body through a Postal Card, 
Fold the card once lengthwise in the middle so 



8 HOME ENTERTAINING 

that there will be two equal flaps. Now com- 
mence at the folded edge and cut almost to the 
straight edge, double thickness, then commence 
at the straight edge and cut almost to the folded 
edge, and so on alternately, until there have 
been about twenty-five or thirty cuts made, 
leaving a very small margin between each cut. 
Then cut each loop on the folded edge except 
the two outside loops, and open. 

Silhouettes. Choose a part of the room where 
there is a clear wall space. Attach a piece of 
silhouette paper to the wall with thumb tacks 
or pins (or against a broad board if you fear 
that the tacks may injure the wall), the white 
side of the paper being out. 

A lamp, or better a candle, having been 
placed so that it will throw a strong Hght on 
the sheet of paper, turn off all the other hghts 
in the room. Each one then takes his place 
between the lamp and the wall so that a clear 
shadow of his profile may be thrown on the 
paper. Now draw a firm, strong hne carefully 



HOME ENTERTAINING 9 

around this shadow. The sitter must sit per- 
fectly still, during the drawing. If possible 
have a head-rest, the shadow of which must 
not be seen upon the paper. Having thus out- 
lined the shadow, take the paper from the wall 
and cut out the silhouette neatly or pass it to 
another to do the same. 

Gymnastics for the Tongue. Say these sev- 
eral times as rapidly and distinctly as you can: 
" She sells sea shells at the sea shore," and these 
also: '^ John sawed six sleek, sKm, slender sap- 
Hngs." '' There was an old woman and she was 
a thistle sifter. She had a sieve of sifted thistles, 
and a sieve of unsifted thistles, and she was a 
thistle sifter." " Mixed biscuits." '' Gig whip." 
^^ Six thick thistle sticks." ^^ She stood at the 
door welcoming him in." " Shoes and socks 
shock Susan." 

The Passenger to Boulogne. The require- 
ments for this touching picture are an orange, 
a pocket-handkerchief or soft table-napkin. 



10 HOME ENTERTAINING 

and a wine-glass. The orange is first prepared 
by cutting in the rind with a pen-knife the best 
ears, nose, and mouth which the skill of the 
artist can compass, a couple of raisins sup- 
plying the place of eyes. A pocket-handker- 
chief is stretched lightly over the glass, and the 
prepared orange laid thereon. 

The pocket-handkerchief is then moved 
gently backwards and forwards over the top of 
the glass, imparting to the orange a rolling mo- 
tion, and affording a laughable but striking 
caricature of the agonies of a sea-sick Channel 
passenger. 

The performance terminates by draping the 
pocket-handkerchief hood-fashion over the sup- 
posed head, and squeezing the orange into the 
glass. The last scene, however, is disagreeably 
reaUstic. 

Mind-Reading. Before appearing to the 
audience, fasten a fine black thread to the thumb 
(or any part desired). The other end is retained 
by an assistant seated back to the audience. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 11 

and in back from the performer, so that the 
thread will not be noticed. While the per- 
former is promising a mind-reading exhibition, 
the assistant will have time to make the thread 
tight, and it must be kept so during the perform- 
ance. Show a small blackboard, or some other 
similar arrangement, that can be held in one 
arm, and ask any one to secretly suggest figures, 
which are put down in columns, for the purpose 
of addition. The figures must be large enough 
for every one to see, and it is advisable not to 
have too many, as experience will show it takes 
too long for the trick. The performer then men- 
tally adds the right column of figures, after 
which he secretly pulls the thread, fastened to 
the thumb, as many times as necessary to make 
the correct number. The assistant counts the 
little jerks, and then announces the number, 
which proves to be the correct number to set 
down. This is continued until all the figures 
are added. If the sum of a column is a ^^ zero '' 
no pull should be made. The details must be 
plainly understood between the performer and 



12 HOME ENTERTAINING 

assistant, and with a little ingenuity the trick 
will seem quite puzzling. 

Blowing a Card on Twine. Procure some of 
the nicest twine, that is hard, smooth, and very 
slippery, and cut into lengths of fifteen or 
twenty feet, according to room available, fas- 
tening both ends to something stationary. The 
number of these lines may be optional, but not 
less than two. On each line, near the end, 
place a card four inches square, with a hole 
exactly in the centre, about three times the 
diameter of the twine. Care must be taken 
that the hole is large enough to allow the card 
to move properly but not too freely. At a 
given signal the card is blown the length of the 
line. The one arriving at the end first, wins. 

Naming a Card. This trick can be shown at 
any time and at any place where two perform- 
ers are together and desire to show a little skill 
to amuse their friends. The idea in the trick is 
to announce that you can tell the name of a 
card written on a sheet of paper, the paper 



HOME ENTERTAINING 13 

folded and placed on the table, all being done 
while you are out of the room. After you have 
announced the trick and have left the room, 
your assistant (who of course acts as if he were 
disinterested) takes a pencil, and when some one 
names the card he writes it on the paper and 
folds it up. For example, we will say that the 
four of diamonds was named. When he has 
finished writing the name of the card, he, in an 
offhand way, places the pencil on the table, so 
that the point would indicate four in an im- 
aginary clock, he of course sitting opposite to 
six. The paper is then folded and placed in a 
casual way on the opposite side on the table, 
in a section which we will designate as diamonds. 
These sections may be like this: diamonds 
at the top of the imaginary clock, hearts at the 
right, clubs at the bottom, and spades at the 
left. The face of the clock can be imagined 
to be about a foot or so round. You may now 
be called in by anybody, and upon entering, you 
must, to make the trick effective, take up the 
paper, and hold it to your forehead as if in 



14 HOME ENTERTAINING 

deep thought. Of course you have taken in 
at a glance the entire situation, and in a most 
mysterious way, name the card. In case a court 
card is named you will understand that a jack 
is eleven, a queen twelve, and if a king is named, 
the pencil is not laid down, the paper only being 
left to indicate the suit. Now some are bound 
to name the joker. In that case your assistant 
simply places the paper on top of the pencil or 
uses some other arrangement agreed upon. 

A Horse Race. Each man in the party 
receives a little bag containing one hundred 
beans. Each woman adopts the name of some 
horse. Strips of tape or paper are fastened at 
one end of the room farthest away from where 
the races are to begin. All attached ends are 
on the sam^e line. The loose ends are held by 
the women on the other side of the room, armed 
with scissors. The men bet their beans on the 
outcome of the race. At a given signal, each 
woman begins to cut the tape, the one to reach 
the end of her strand quickest being the win- 



HOME ENTERTAINING 15 

ner. The narrowness of the tape obhges the 
women to work with extreme care, as well as 
quickly, for if the strand is cut before reaching 
the end, the "^ horse " is disqualified. When the 
first entries have been raced, if there are more 
women than strips, more come forward for an- 
other '^heat," and so on until all have com- 
peted. The man winning the most beans in 
all the races wins the prize, and each lady who 
comes out ahead receives something in appre- 
ciation of her dexterity. 

A Jam-eating Contest. For this, thin slices 
of bread are spread with jelly or jam and placed 
upon a small plate at the edge of the table. 
Those who enter the contest must have their 
hands tied behind them, so that they are obliged 
to eat their bread and jam without touching it 
with a hand. The one who succeeds in dispo- 
sing of his shce first receives a prize. 

A Potato Race. Use peach-baskets for the 
goals. Potatoes, apples, or oranges are laid 



16 HOME ENTERTAINING 

three feet apart in rows for the gathering con- 
test. Each one must be picked up and carried 
on a spoon to the basket at the end of the row. 

Guessing Contests. A pumpkin, a large ear 
of yellow field-corn, a pint of peanuts in the 
shell, a pound of pecans in the shell, a basket of 
apples, one chrysanthemum, a large bimch of 
Malaga grapes, and a bough of oak leaves are the 
requisites for this entertainment. These same 
articles may serve as decorations for the room 
during the evening. The game is to guess the 
number of parts of each one of the list, for 
instance : 

How many grains on the ear of com? 

How many seeds in the pumpkin? 

How many grapes in the bunch? 

How many pecans in a pound? 

How many petals on the chrysanthemum? 

How many peanuts in a pint? 

How many leaves on the oak bough? 

How many apples in the basket? 

Of course, the answers have actually been 



HOME ENTERTAINING 17 

obtained beforehand, except in the case of the 
chrysanthemum, which is counted after the 
company have guessed. 

A Phonograph Concert. The removal of a 
large screen exposes a most extraordinary con- 
trast. It consists of a large square packing-box, 
the open side being set across a doorway lead- 
ing into another room. On top of the box is fas- 
tened a clothes-wringer and a megaphone, while 
a curtain conceals the part of the doorway not 
hidden by the box. The record is a narrow slip 
of paper, yards in length, which is inserted be- 
tween the rollers. The crank is turned and the 
record announced amidst a grating noise pe- 
culiar to phonographs. A person behind the 
scenes, with his head in the box, drawls out the 
subjects of the records, making the scraping 
noise by rubbing something rough against a tin 
can. The people who are to do the feats on 
the phonograph are in the room behind the 
curtain and, as their turns come, stick their 
heads into the box and shout through the mega- 



18 HOME ENTERTAINING 

phone, which is sticking out of the hole bored 
through the box. 

To Lift Fifteen Matches with One. On a 
match place fourteen other matches so that one 
third of the match, with its phosphorus tip, 
will be in the air and the other end resting on 
the table. These ends should point alternately 
right and left. If one is asked to lift them, hold- 
ing only one extremity of the lower match, it 
seems clear that the fourteen matches on top 
will fall to the table by the force of gravity. 
Here is a way to render the operation feasible. 
Above the matches and along the angle formed 
by the interlacement, place one last match. 
They can now be lifted safely by the extremity 
of the under match. The matches will take 
an oblique position, embracing the upper one 
within their angle as though they were pos- 
sessed of jaws, and will remain without further 
support just as long as you wish. By prefer- 
ence, employ the largest matches you can 
find. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 19 

A Donkey Party. Each one tries, blindfolded, 
to pin a tail to a donkey drawn on a sheet. 
The prize is given to the one who comes near- 
est to pinning it in the right position. 

The Dwarf Exhibit affords one of the most 
amusing entertainments, and will cause wonder 
to your friends as to where you got '^ him." 

Two persons play the dw^arf, a third acting 
as the exhibitor, who should prepare before- 
hand a humorous speech, setting forth the his- 
tory and accomplishments of the dwarf, which 
will be told later. 

To arrange and dress the dwarf, place a table 
in a doorway between two rooms, and cover 
it with a cloth or a curtain that will reach to 
the floor on the side farthest from the audience. 
Or the table may be placed entirely in the room 
next to that in which the audience is seated, 
the edge of it reaching to the doorway, so that 
the curtains between may act as a screen while 
you are getting the dwarf ready. 

One person stands behind the table and places 



20 HOME ENTERTAINING 

his hands on it. These, with his arms, form 
the feet and legs of the dwarf. Over his arms 
should be drawn a pair of boy's trousers, and 
on his hands should be a pair of shoes. The 
trousers should be drawn down until they reach 
the heels, like a man's. This completes the 
lower part of the dwarf. 

The second person stands behind the first 
and passes his arms around his shoulders. By 
putting a coat over the arms and buttoning it 
down the figure of the first impersonator and 
then throwing a cape around his neck so ar- 
ranged as to cover the head of the person be- 
hind, you will complete the dwarf's dress. 

Of course, you may have to improvise a 
jacket to fit, or you may dress the dwarf fantas- 
tically, as a Turk, or woman, for instance, but 
the means of doing so will suggest themselves 
readily. 

The hands of the second person act as the 
hands of the dwarf, and as the latter makes his 
appearance they raise his hat when he bows to 
the audience. The exhibitor then begins his 



HOME ENTERTAINING 21 

history, which can be made very ludicrous; and 
he should recite the various accomplishments 
of the dwarf, including dancing, and even his 
abiUty to suspend himself in the air without 
support. 

The dwarf should then be invited to enter- 
tain the audience, and he should begin by ma- 
king a little speech, in either a thin falsetto or 
a heavy bass voice, assumed, of course, to add 
to the grotesque effect. The second player 
makes gestures to the speech, which in them- 
selves will create a laugh. 

Then the dwarf should begin to dance. The 
hands of the first performer do this, and all of 
a sudden, in the middle of a quickstep, they 
both are lifted from the table and remain sus- 
pended in the air for a quarter of a minute. 
Then they drop to the table again, and the 
dwarf appears to be exhausted with this un- 
usual effort. 

In making his parting salute to the audience 
the dwarf astonishes them all by putting both feet 
to his mouth and throwing kisses with his toes. 



22 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Stick-and-Pea Amusement. A box of tooth- 
picks and a pint of dried peas will furnish ex- 
cellent amusement for children on a rainy day. 
Soak the peas until they can be pierced with a 
toothpick. Tables, chairs, boxes, figures, let- 
ters, etc., can be made by sticking the tooth- 
picks into the peas. 

An Introduction to the Doll Family. If you 

straighten a hairpin, then bend one end of it 
until it resembles a shepherd's crook, and hang 
it on the edge of a table, it will swing back and 
forth many times hke the pendulum of a clock. 
The slightest touch sets it in motion, and if you 
have just the right angle to the crook it will 
sway back and forth many times. 

Suppose you fix several hairpins in this fash- 
ion and set them all to swinging at once. It will 
much resemble a lot of very slender gentlemen 
bobbing up and down in stately, graceful bows. 
Very well; suppose we have some real gentle- 
men to bow to us. Get two or three old maga- 
zines and look through the advertising sections. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 23 

You will find lots and lots of figures of all kinds, 
men, women, and animals; some of them just 
the size you want. Cut out some of these very 
carefullyj selecting those just a little longer 
than your bent hairpins. 

Now thrust a hairpin through one of the 
figures and hang the bent end of the hairpin 
on the edge of a table; or, better still, a big 
book whose cover overlaps the leaves inside. 
Blow gently at the figure and it will answer by 
bowing most politely, bobbing back and forth 
in the funniest way you can imagine. Now fix 
the rest of the figures in the same way and you 
will have one of the most amusing collections of 
dolls that ever was. Whenever you blow at 
them, they all will nod and bow at once, but 
no two will move alike, for the shapes of their 
figures will all be different, and the different 
ways in which their weight or centre of gravity 
inclines them will cause the various motions. 

Just try it with some of your little friends 
and see what fun these odd httle actors will 
make for you. 



24 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Second Sight. This cannot fail to make a 
hit, providing the rule is not generall}' known 
by the audience. 

Take a piece of paper and write on it the 
figures 1,089. Fold this paper and ask one of 
your spectators to place it in his pocket with- 
out looking at it. Now ask another spectator 
to think of three figures (a). He having done 
so, get him to write them upon another piece of 
paper. Now ask him to write the same figures 
under the first row, only in reverse (&) order. 
Subtract the smaller from the larger (c). Now 
reverse the remainder (d) and your total will 
be the answer on the piece of paper in the first 
spectator's pocket. For instance : 

(a) Number thought of 621 

(b) Result of reversion 126 

(c) " ^' subtraction 495 

(d) " '' second reversion . 594 

(e) " '' addition 1,089 



HOME ENTERTAINING 25 

The Blind Feeding the Blind. Spread a sheet 
on the floor, and having blindfolded two players, 
seat them on the floor facing each other. Give 
to each a spoon and saucer containing some dry 
food such as ground pop-corn or wheat grains 
and let each attempt to feed the other. 

An Amateur Vaudeville. For the entertain- 
ment of a large number of people, an amateur 
vaude\dlle program meets every requirement, 
and does so in a unique manner. 

If you go over your Hst of friends and ac- 
quaintances, you Avill find among them many a 
clever person who has some talent which can 
be utiHzed in preparing the program; this one 
can dance, that recite, another sings coon songs, 
some do '' cake-walks," some play, others sing, 
one can tell an Irish story or a Dutch one, or 
perhaps perform a feat of legerdemain, and so 
on, until your program is filled. 

The Elusive Coin. Set a coin upon the edge 
of a table, and, closing one eye by the opposite 



26 HOME ENTERTAINING 

hand (that is, the left eye closed by the 
right hand and vice- versa) ; attempt to knock 
it off with the forefinger of the disengaged 
hand. 

You will find that your judgment is at fault, 
and that, in nine cases out of ten you are dab- 
bing away at nothing but thin air. 

To do this effectively, you should stand at 
arm's length from the coin, and you wiU be 
surprised at your apparent bad judgment. 

Novel Paper-Cutting. A long strip of paper 
is shown to the audience; it is then rolled up 
into cyHndrical form, a few cuts are made with 
a scissors, or if the paper is not too thick, it 
may be torn with the fingers. You make a 
twist or tw^o, and the audience are surprised 
to see what a good resemblance to a ^^ fir tree," 
five or more feet in length, makes its appearance 
in the performer's hands. This is managed in 
the following way: Cut a strip of paper about 
nine feet long and eight inches wide; to in- 
crease the effect, the strip of paper can be made 



HOME ENTERTAINING 27 

up of three or four short lengths of different 
colored papers pasted together. Roll the paper 
up into a cylinder of about i/^ inches in diame- 
ter, then with a pair of scissors make cuts 
through the cylinder from one end, to half- 
way down its length. These cuts should be at 
small, equal distances from each other around 
the roll. Then bend over into horizontal 
position each piece of loose paper to form 
the branches of the tree, pull out from the 
centre of the top in the same way as for the 
familiar barber's pole; the tree will then be 
complete. 

To thoroughly grasp the idea, the instruction 
should be carefully followed with scissors and 
paper in hand. 

The Mysterious Remainder. A mother of 
several children amused them frequently by 
the following simple puzzle. It was a never- 
faihng source of entertainment and a delightful 
mystery. She never told the secret. Had she 
done so, much of the charm would have been lost. 



(( 



cc 



28 HOME ENTERTAINING 

^^ Think of a number." 

Perhaps some one would think of four. 

" Double it." 

The child thought, but did not say eight. 

Perhaps she would say, '' Add six to it." 
Divide it by two." 

Take away the first number you thought of 
and the remainder mU be three." 

Sure enough, four from seven does leave 
three; the children were much puzzled to know 
how mother knew. The next thing was always 
a request to try it again. 

Suppose looo was chosen. 

" Double it," was the order. 

^' Add ten to it," was the next command. 

" Divide by two." 

^' Take away the first number thought of 
and the remainder will be five." 

One miight think of six, another of eleven, 
another of twenty. The result was the same. 
Mother could always guess right. 

When the children grew older they were sur- 
prised to learn that mother did not know the 



HOME ENTERTAINING 29 

number thought of at all. They learned for 
themselves that the remainder was always 
half of the number added. 

Home Field-sports, (a) One- Yard Dash. 
This race consists in the attempt to push a 
penny a distance of one yard across the floor 
by means of the nose. 

(b) Tug of War. A raisin is tied firmly in 
the middle of a long piece of twine, and each 
contestant takes a firm hold of one end of the 
twine in his mouth, and begins to chew this 
string for the raisin. No one is allowed to use 
his hands. 

(c) Standing High Jump. Three doughnuts 
are suspended in a doorway about four inches 
above the mouths of the jumpers. The 
contestants with hands tied attempt to take 
a bite. One bite from the doughnut wins a 
prize. 

(d) Hurdle Race. The contestants take 
seats and thread six needles. The one who gets 
through first is the winner. 



30 HOME ENTERTAINING 

(e) Drinking Race. Each contestant is 
given a glass of water, which is to be absorbed 
by means of a spoon. 

(/) Bun Race. Two poles are set up at a 
good distance apart, connected with a clothes- 
line, from which are suspended strings of dif- 
ferent lengths, according to the height of each 
boy, and a bun is tied to each string. The boys 
line up, hands tied behind their backs, and at 
the signal each tries to eat his bun. The con- 
stant moving of the Hne caused by their efforts 
makes it almost impossible to get a bite. 
Soon a ^boy gets a [hold with his teeth, gets 
his bun on the ground, and, with his hands 
still behind, finishes the bun and gets the 
prize. 

(g) Cracker-eating Contest (for girls 
only). Girls choose sides and line up facing 
each other. Each girl has a cracker which she 
is to chew and swallow as quickly as possible. 
The side which has a girl able to whistle first 
wins the prize. 

(h) Rainy-day Race. This race is rim by 



HOME ENTERTAINING 31 

several girls. They stand in a line with a closed 
satchel in front of each one, in wliich is a pair of 
rubbers, a pair of gloves, and also an umbrella. 
When '' three " is counted, they open the satch- 
els, take out the rubbers, put them on, take 
out the gloves, put them on, open their um- 
brellas, take the satchels and walk (not run) 
about one hundred feet to a hne. Here they 
lower the umbrellas, take off their gloves and 
rubbers, put them in the satchels, close them 
and return, carrying the satchels and having the 
umbrellas closed. The first one back to the start- 
ing point wins. Other additions may be made. 

The Gentlemen Nurse-maids. It is best to 
have several ladies, who know the trick, to 
dress the dummies, as it is too long a task for 
one. 

When the gentlemen are seated, carefuUy 
bhndfold each one, and request him to double 
up his right fist. Upon the back of the fist mark 
the eyes, nose, and mouth of a face with a burnt 
match or a little water-color. Tie around this 



32 HOME ENTERTAINING 

a doll's cap, or a lace frill or muslin ruffle, and 
fasten around the wrist a fuU white apron or 
skirt. Bend the left arm to he across the waist, 
and put the right fist into the inner bend of the 
elbow, drawing the apron down over the right 
arm, and each of the bhndfolded gentlemen will 
appear to be tenderly nursing a young baby. 
Have blindfolds removed. 

New Year's Resolutions for Others. The 
simplest entertainments are often the most suc- 
cessful. The literary efforts are sometimes de- 
sirable, but for a really enjoyable, social time, 
the foUowdng is sure to be a success. This 
should be arranged on New Yearns eve. Reso- 
lutions for improvement in conduct for the 
coming year are then in order. Supply your 
guests with pencil and paper. A party invited to 
see the old year out is quite sure to be an inti- 
mate one. For the resolutions, have each guest 
write a set of them for some one else in the party. 
This may be decided by inviting each one to 
write of his neighbor or by writing the names 



HOME ENTERTAINING 33 

on paper and letting each one draw his subject. 
They are to be collected and read to the com- 
pany. The writer is at hberty to sign any name 
to his resolutions. 

Can You Draw a Watch-face? Some people 
have the happy faculty of seeing what they look 
at, others go through the world bhndly. We may 
look at a familiar object numberless times, and 
yet be ignorant of many of its striking charac- 
teristics. An amusing little test of this faculty 
can be arranged. There is no object with 
which we should be more f amiHar than the face of 
a watch, yet when we attempt to reproduce it, 
we will be astonished at oiu* ignorance. 

Have prepared squares of cardboard with 
pencil attached. If it is designed to use them as 
souvenirs, one side may be decorated, and the 
date and occasion written on it. 

Provide one of these for each guest, and when 
you are ready for your entertainment request 
each of the company to draw on the blank side, 
the face of a watch as he can remember it. It 



34 HOME ENTERTAINING 

is well to furnish something to use as a guide 
for the first circle, as that has very Httle to do 
with the memory of detail, and only rarely is 
one able to draw even an imperfect circle. Al- 
low all the time required, and when the papers 
are collected, a committee can judge on the 
merits, if it is designed to give a prize. 

The Endless Thread. The joker is seen walk- 
ing about, until some one observes a piece of 
white cotton thread sticking on the back of his 
coat. Of course, the unfortunate individual is 
asked whether he has been sewing his buttons on, 
etc., being generally laughed at, until some one 
attempts to remove the piece of cotton. Then 
the laugh is turned, for, as the obliging gentle- 
man pulls the cotton away from the joker's coat, 
so does it become longer until some hundreds 
of feet have been extracted. The amusement 
is then brought to a cHmax by the gentleman 
turning round and drily remarking, '^ Well, I 
never! You had better start putting that back 
now! " 



HOME ENTERTAINING 35 

Before entering the room, the party that is 
going to play the joke should provide himself 
with a reel of white cotton. Without breaking 
the cotton, two or three feet must be unwound 
and threaded through a needle, which must be 
passed through the centre of the back of his 
coat. Then the reel should be deposited in 
his inside breast pocket, and the coat put on; 
afterwards pulhng a little of the cotton through 
the garment to see that the reel works properly; 
the needle, of course, being removed, and the 
cotton being cut until only two or three inches 
project through the coat at the back. Now it 
will appear that the cotton is only sticking to 
the nap of the coat, but as soon as any one 
pulls, the reel will revolve and allow the thread 
to be dragged out until the supply is exhausted. 

The Telltale Glass. Procure an ordinary 
glass tumbler, and invert it on the table. Then 
request anybody present to lend you a penny. 
Placing the coin on the top of the glass, you 
leave the room, telling the company at the same 



36 HOME ENTERTAINING 

time, that if a person will take the penny and 
conceal it, you will tell them, whe*n you return, 
which person has it. 

Some one having concealed the coin, you 
make your appearance, and request each one 
round the table to place his first finger on the 
glass, one after another, and not all at once. 
This done, you take up the glass, and place 
it to your ear, remarking at' the same time that, 
by the aid of the sound which you hear, you 
will be able to tell which person has the coin. 
Then you listen for a second or two, put down 
the glass, and turning to the person who has 
the coin, make some remark, such as " Mr. 

, please give me the penny." WTiereupon 

the person addressed produces the coin and 
hands it to you. 

How you got to know who possesses the 
coin will seem remarkable to the company, you 
having been out of the room when the coin 
was taken off the glass and concealed. 

This is how it is done: when you tell the 
persons to place their fingers upon the glass, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 37 

your confederate, who is one of them, must 
place his on after the person who has the 
coin. 

Pairing Ten Half-dimes. Place ten half- 
dimes in a row upon a table. Then taking up 
any one of the series, place it upon some other, 
with this proviso, that you pass over just ten 
cents. Repeat this till there are no single half- 
dimes left. 

123456789 lo half-dimes. 

Place 4 upon i, 7 upon 3, 5 upon 9, 2 upon 6, 
and 8 upon 10. 

Deceptive Heights, {a) Ask a person, or 
several persons, to point out with a finger or 
walking-cane, on a wall, above a table, about 
what he supposes to be the height of an ordinary 
hat. You will find he will place his mark about 
a foot above the table. Place the hat under it, 
and he will find, to his surprise, that the space 
indicated is more than double the height of the 
hat. 

(&) The height of a conmion flour-barrel is 



38 HOME ENTERTAINING 

just the length of a horse's face, and much 
merriment may be made by asking the company 
to mark their idea of the height of a flour- 
barrel upon the wall. In nine cases out of ten 
the mark will be several inches, or even a foot, 
too high. 

Slang, The players may be young or old 
and of both sexes. They are given pencils and 
paper and asked to write down all the slang 
words they can think of in five minutes. When 
the time Umit is reached the hostess collects 
the papers, and reads the names and the Kst 
of slang words aloud. 

This is where the fun commences. Imagine 
a quiet Httle mouse of a woman having the 
following expressions to her credit: " Soak 
him," " Chase yourself," etc. Imagine a dig- 
nified old gentleman writing the following: 
^' Put out his lamps," ^' Me for the dreamy 
eyes," etc. In one case, a lawyer seemed to 
be right at home, and at the end of the five 
minutes had a list of thirty expressions. But 



HOME ENTERTAINING 39 

the prize unexpectedly went to a little lady 
who could think of only one word of slang. In 
presenting it, the hostess said, ^^ You have used 
the best EngHsh, and the best slang." 

The lawyer, whose Ust of slang was the long- 
est, received a booby prize. The point, of 
course, is that the least slang is the best. 

Observation Contest. Have on tables and 
pinned on curtains, etc., quantities of small 
objects. Provide pads for all and let each have 
three minutes to observe each table, each part 
of the room, etc., and then five minutes to note 
down in another room all that she remembers to 
have seen. This is great fun. The prize should 
be given to the one with the keenest power 
of observation. 

The Bargain-Counter Game. The Christ- 
mas bargain-counter is a charming fireside 
game for Christmas night that wiU amuse and 
at the same time instruct the nursery children. 
The bargain-counter may be the nursery table 
set in front of the fireplace or hearth. On the 



40 HOME ENTERTAINING 

counter are laid as many as one likes of the toys 
which the children received from tree and 
Christmas stockings. One child is chosen to 
take charge of this play toy shop, and a sec- 
ond child leaves the room after looking care- 
fully first at aU the toys on the coimter to de- 
termine their names. While this child is absent 
from the room a third child selects and hides 
one of the toys. When the second child returns 
he must try at one guess to say which of the 
toys was sold during his absence. If he guesses 
successfully he may be the next toyman. To 
make the game more difficult two or more toys 
may be hidden. Another and sHghtly more 
difficult way of playing the bargain-counter 
game is to have the toyman change the posi- 
tions of the toys while the child is out of the 
room. The child on returning must rearrange 
them, if he can, in exactly the same positions. 
They may be scraps of color instead of toys. 
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet 
ribbons, balls or Christmas tree candles may 
be laid out in the order of the rainbow colors. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 41 

While one child is either bhndfolded or outside 
the room, the child in charge of the colors re- 
moves one from sight or alters the color order, 
and the other child must guess the hidden color 
or restore the rainbow order on his return. 

The " Thirty-five '^ Trick. An envelope, 
handed to any person in the company at the 
outset, contains a slip of paper, bearing the 
number 35. This is kept in the person's pocket 
until the close of the trick; or the number 35 
can be written on the inside of a trick slate, 
or elsewhere, for production in due course. 

The performer now goes around with a shp 
of paper, which he hands to some one, with a 
request to place any single figure thereon. This 
done, he gives the paper to a second person to 
place another figure under the first, and so on 
to as many persons in succession as necessary. 
As each figure is written, he secretly adds all to- 
gether until the total reaches 26 or over; when 
this is the case, he stops calHng for more figures 
and, retaining the paper, remarks, " That will 



42 HOME ENTERTAINING 

do, thank you, but I would like to place this 
gentleman's initials on the paper for the purpose 
of identification/' The initials are given and 
written on the paper by the performer, who at 
the same time takes the opportunity thus af- 
forded of placing another figure, to make the 
sum total 35, at the foot of those already 
written. This done, the paper may be handed 
to any person to add up the sum, for the simple 
reason that the trick cannot now fail. Of course 
no one ever thinks of checking the number of 
figiures on the paper with the number of persons 
who wrote them. The envelope containing the 
slip of paper is now opened, and the two 
amounts compared. 

An Ink Shock. Cut a piece of black paper to 
imitate Spilled ink. Lay it flat on a white table 
cover. Beside it, place an upset dry ink bottle. 
This will shock the mistress of the house. 

Reading from Folded Papers. For this trick, 
you enlist the service of a friend. Each one 
is given a slip of paper and told to write on 



HOME ENTERTAINING 43 

it a question. Fold up well and drop into 
a hat. Mix them up, and, holding the hat over 
your head, pick out any paper, and without 
unfolding it, answer the question, doing the 
same with the rest. 

In order to do this, you must know your 
friend's question, and as you collect the papers, 
sHp it under the band inside the hat. When 
performing, take any sKp, but answer your 
friend's question first. Now open, to prove 
yourseK right, and thereby see another question. 
This is answered while the next is held, and so 
on until the last, when all and the one in the 
hat are mixed and left for the audience for in- 
vestigation. 

Blind Man's Bufif with Dominoes. Sit op- 
posite another player, each placing his right 
foot on the other's left. Turn the dominoes 
face down and the game now begins. Of course 
each one must look at his domino before he 
plays it, but he does not show it to the other. 
The pressure of your foot on his shows the 



44 HOME ENTERTAINING 

number with which you begin, without the pos- 
sibihty of a blunder, although playing the dom- 
inoes face downward. He now counts the 
movements of your foot, which indicate the num- 
ber he is to match. He then presses your foot 
with the number you are to match. This is 
continued until all the dominoes are played. 
When the game is finished, turn the dominoes 
over to show that the numbers have been played 
with perfect exactness. 

^* My Aunt Has Arrived from Paris.'^ A 
circle is formed, all kneeling on the floor. The 
leader says to the one on his right side, " My 
aunt has arrived from Paris," and the one ad- 
dressed, asks the question, '^ What did she 
bring you? " The leader answers, " A 
pair of scissors,'' and at once imitates 
the opening and shutting of the scissors 
with two fingers. This same question is 
asked, answered, and imitated by each one 
around the circle. 

The leader again says, ^^ My aunt has arrived 



HOME ENTERTAINING 45 

from Paris," and the one addressed asks, 
'' What did she bring you? " The leader, still 
keeping up the scissors motion, says, '' A fan," 
and at once imitates fanning with the other 
hand. This goes around the circle as before. 

The leader then announces in the same way, 
^' A Japanese doll," and imitates by bowing his 
head backward and forward, which goes around 
the circle. Then a rocking-horse is announced 
by the leader, and is imitated by moving the 
body up and down, all the while remaining on 
the knees. This also goes around the circle. 

Finally in the same manner the leader an- 
nounces a cuckoo, and immediately gives the 
imitation of a cuckoo, which is also done in turn 
around the circle. All five imitations are to be 
kept up continuously by each one until the 
players are exhausted. The one holding out 
the longest is the winner. 

Surprising Strength. Just lightly put the 
tips of your fingers together. If you invite any 
one to separate them by taking your wrists 



46 HOME ENTERTAINING 

and trying to draw them apart in a direct line 
with each other, they will be surprised to find 
that no amount of strength will avail them at 
all, as the thing is reaUy almost impossible. 

Place your clenched fists one upon the other, 
and ask some one to separate them by pushing 
them aside. They will be quite unable to do 
so, although you are exerting your strength but 
Httle against them. 

Let them, however, approach you with the 
forefingers only, and give a sharp rap at your 
knuckles in opposite directions. You will find 
in this case that you are quite powerless against 
this, and cannot keep your fists together at all. 

Card-passing Contest. Divide the players 
equally and seat them in two rows facing each 
other. The leader of each row is provided with 
a pack of playing cards. At a given signal, each 
leader passes one card to the next person, who 
in his turn gives it to the next person, and so 
on down the line until the last one drops it 
on the floor beside him. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 47 

The side that gets the last card on the floor 
first wins the game. The cards may be passed 
to the right on each side, moving in opposite 
directions. 

A Cobweb Tangle. Have as many balls of 
twine as there are players. Starting at a given 
point, fasten each end securely. Starting from 
this point, wind the twine in every conceivable 
place, wherever you care to have the players 
go; under tables, around chairs, door-knobs, 
upstairs, and anywhere that can be made difii- 
cult without doing any injury to the surround- 
ings. When the winding is completed, fasten 
the string to a small round stick about three or 
four inches long. All this should be done before 
the guests arrive, as it takes some time to do 
it. When ready for the game, have the guests 
draw the sticks and then proceed to wind the 
twine until they arrive at the end. The one 
arriving there first wins a prize. 

A Novel Masquerade. Each gentleman re- 
ceives a printed card asking him to call at the 



d8 ^ HOME ENTERTAINING 

house of a lady who is to be his partner for the 
evening. The ladies change places with one 
another, so that when the gentlemen call for 
them, they will not be in their home but in the 
home of one of the other ladies. As the ladies 
are masked and do not have to talk, the gen- 
tlemen never find out their mistake until all 
are unmasked. 

Hit the Bag. A bag about the size of a per- 
son's head, or larger if desired, made of tissue 
paper, or other very thin paper, containing 
candy, is suspended from the ceiHng by a string 
so that it will be about six feet from the floor. 
A person is blindfolded and a cane, or a stick 
about the length of a cane, is placed in the per- 
son's two hands, allowing the farther end to 
touch the bag. The performer is then requested 
to take three steps backward and then turn 
around three times, alone. When this is done, 
he is requested to take three steps forward, 
strike three times and break the bag. The 
cane can have only a perpendicular motion. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 49 

Each one tries the same, until the bag is 
broken, when all present scramble to see who 
will gather the most candy. 

A Pretended Illusion. Place three coins on 
a table, coins i and 2 being only a short dis- 
tance from each other, while the coins 2 and 3 
are more than double the distance apart. Now 
point out to a spectator that a curious optical 
illusion can be observed by placing one eye 
on the level of the table edge and looking along 
the line of the coins. The spectator having 
done so, ask him which two coins he considers 
are the farthest away from each other and to 
point them out. He will probably point out 
coins two and three. You immediately point 
to the coins i and 3, and say you consider these 
coins are the farthest away from each other. 

Dancing Fairies. Most of you have seen the 
smooth, round beans called ^^ magic beans." 
They were brought to this country several 
years ago from the East Indies, and were a 
great curiosity until their secret was discovered. 



50 HOME ENTERTAINING 

First get a half-dozen or more of the dancing 
or '' magic " beans. These are now sold in 
most of the large Japanese stores. 

Cut out a half-dozen of tiny paper dolls. 
They must be made so that they are Hght, and 
so that their feet can be pasted securely to both 
sides of the bean. Cut out skirts of tissue paper 
which will cover the dolls' legs and hide the 
beans without touching them. When these 
are made so that they will balance well, place 
them upon a heated plate and soon every little 
fairy will begin to dance in a mysterious way. 

Describing a Lady's Costume. When the 
guests arrive, have them all meet in one room. 
Every gentleman is presented with a card on 
which is written the name of some lady present, 
and the hostess announces that each gentleman 
must talk five minutes to the lady whose name 
his card bears. The reason for the conversation 
is not divulged. At the end of the appointed 
time, the ladies withdraw, and then the men are 
told to each write out a description of the dress 



HOME ENTERTAINING 51 

the lady wore, the color of her eyes, of her hair, 
the fashion of wearing it, etc., etc. The ladies 
are now admitted and each one stands out, 
while a description of herself and costiune is 
read aloud. 

The Wonderful Hat. Upon a table place 
three pieces of bread, or any other eatable, at 
a little distance from each other, and cover 
each with a hat. Take up the first hat, and, 
removing the bread, put it into your mouth, 
letting the company see that you swallow it. 
Then raise a second hat and eat the bread which 
is under that, then proceed to the third hat 
in the same manner. Having eaten the three 
pieces, ask any person in the company to choose 
which hat he would like the three pieces of 
bread to be under, and when he has made his 
choice of one of the hats, put it on your 
head and ask him if he does not think 
they are under it. 

Mirror-Drawing. To carry out this test you 
will need a sheet of paper, a mirror about the 



52 HOME ENTERTAINING 

width of the paper, a pencil, and another sheet 
of paper or a large card or book. 

Lay the paper flat on the table. Then prop 
up the mirror opposite you and the paper so 
that it is at right angles with the paper and 
reflects it. You may stand the mirror against 
a pile of books if it has no standard of its own. 
After you have done this, take the extra sheet 
of paper in your left hand and hold it so that 
it is between your eyes and the piece of paper 
which is lying on the table. You must hold 
the piece of paper in your left hand so that 
you cannot see the paper lying on the table, 
except in the mirror. 

You are now ready to begin drawing, first 
announcing what you intend to draw. It 
should be some simple object, represented by 
some few straight lines, such as a kite, a box, 
or a square, with a straight line going from each 
corner diagonally across. You draw with 
your right hand, holding the paper with your 
left, so that you cannot see what progress you 
are making except in the mirror. Watch the 



HOME ENTERTAINING 53 

mirror all the time until the drawing is com- 
pleted. 

The Dancing Skeleton. Get a piece of 
board about the size of a large school slate and 
have it painted black. The paint should be 
what is known as a dead color, without gloss or 
brightness. (A large school slate would an- 
swer the purpose.) Sketch out the figure of a 
skeleton on a piece of cardboard and arrange 
it after the manner of the dancing sailors and 
other cardboard figures for sale in toy stores, 
so that by holding the figure by the head in one 
hand and pulling a string with the other, the 
figure will throw up his legs and arms in a very 
ludicrous manner. 

Make the connections of the arms and legs 
with black string and let the pulling-string be 
also black. Tack the skeleton by the head to 
the blackboard. The figure, having been cut 
out is of course painted black, like the board. 

Now to perform: Produce the board show- 
ing only the side upon which there is nothing. 



54 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Request that the lights may be reduced about 
hah, and take position at a little distance from 
the company. With a piece of chalk make one 
or two attempts to draw a figure; rub out 
your work as being unsatisfactory; turn the 
slate; the black figure will not be perceived; 
touch the edge of the cardboard figure with 
the chalk, filling up ribs, etc., taking care that 
nothing moves while the drawing is progressing. 
Then manipulate with the fingers. By puUing 
the string below the figure it will of course 
kick up its legs and throw about its arms, to 
the astonishment of everybody. 

Pitching Cards at a Hat. Borrow a gentle- 
man's hat and try to throw a pack of cards 
from a distance of two or three feet, throwing 
the cards in one at a time. 

Peanut Guessing. Fill a dish with peanuts, 
and let each one guess how many are contained 
in it; the one who guesses nearest wins. 

Peanut Shelling. Give each contestant ten 
peanuts, and at a signal let all begin to shell 



HOME ENTERTAINING 55 

them, removing also the imier skin. The one 
who finishes first, without breaking a kernel, 
wins. If one breaks into more than the two 
natural divisions of the nut, another peanut 
must be shelled in its place. 

Peanut -rolling. Place peanuts across one 
side of the room at interval of about three 
feet. Give each contestant a toothpick. At 
a given word they all commence to roll the 
peanuts across the room with the toothpicks. 
The one who first gets his peanut across the 
room is the victor. Another row of contest- 
ants then take their places in the same way. 
After all are through the victors in the dif- 
ferent contests have a final contest. 

The Peanut Hunt. Peanuts are previ- 
ously hidden in every conceivable place in 
the rooms to which the guests have access. 
The finder of the greatest number receives a 
prize. 

Progressive Peanut Party. This is played 
exactly as all other progressive games. Arrange 



56 HOME ENTERTAINING 

tables to seat four, choose partners, and pro- 
vide score cards. 

In the centre of each table, place a bowl 
containing one hundred peanuts in the shell, and 
lay a long, new, common hat-pin at each place. 
At the head table have a bell. Before being 
seated to play, each guest is to have the right 
hand securely tied down to the side by a ribbon 
or fancy cord. When ready to commence, a 
player rings a bell at the head table, and all 
begin to spear nuts from the bowl; when the 
bowl is empty at the head table, the bell is 
rung and all count to see how many nuts they 
have, the two having made the best score, 
progress, first replacing the nuts into the bowl 
ready for the next game; the cards are then 
punched according to the score and the game 
proceeds. 

Five hundred may be the score limit, the 
one who first gets the five hundred winning; 
or it may be decided to have the game end 
when the players at the head of the table return 
to that table, or at least two of them. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 57 

Your Friends in Black. There are various 
advantages about a silhouette party. It admits 
of no small amusement, for occasionally the 
queerest object may be twisted to fit a name. 
The first thing to do is to prepare a list of your 
guests and find for each name something that 
will represent it. Set the wits of the entire 
family at work, for on this task two heads are 
infinitely better than one. 

The longer time you have for the '^ rebus- 
ing " of the names the more entertaining the 
list will prove. Do not leave out a friend be- 
cause at first it seems almost impossible to pic- 
ture his name. The same license is allowed for a 
rebus as for poetry, and a point may be stretched 
to make the drawing fit the name, although it is 
not best to leave too much to the imagination. 

For the mechanical part of the work provide 
ragged-edged cards of various sizes. One name 
will demand a long, narrow card for its repre- 
sentation; another name, a square card. The 
best surface for this purpose is a heavy, water- 
color paper which is neither smooth nor rough. 



58 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Do not cut it. Crease it in such lengths as 
you wish to use, then tear it with a very blunt 
paper-knife. This gives an excellent ragged 
edge. Take the designs you have planned to 
use and trace them over black carbon copy- 
ing paper on each card, leaving a generous 
margin. Sketch no detail except the mere 
outline of a figure. Fill a pen with India ink 
and go very carefully over the outHne. Allow 
it to dry; then with a rather stiff, small sable 
brush dipped in the ink fill in the silhouette till 
it is perfectly black and even. Allow it to dry, 
and add in one corner the number which corre- 
sponds with the hst. There is a good deal to 
learn in the adaptation of a design for a sil- 
houette. If a human figure is chosen let it 
generally be in profile. As a rule, a full-face 
figure, either in an animal or a man, is ahnost 
meaningless unless it is full of action. When 
the silhouettes are completed, they should be 
pinned up in a conspicuous place, so that they 
may all be seen and examined easily and prizes 
awarded to the most successful guessers. 



GAMES 

Packing the Trunk. A game adapted from 
the French, that is very popular among the 
little people of America, is a good test for the 
memory. 

The children must sit in a circle, and one, 
as leader, announces in this fashion: '^ I pack 
my trunk, and in it I put " — mentioning 
some articles used in traveling, as gloves, brush 
or cologne. The next child begins then, saying 
what the leader has said and adding another 
article, and so on around the circle, each child 
repeating all the articles mentioned by the pre- 
vious one in their correct order, and then adding 
one more to the list, which after a while assumes 
lengthy proportions. If one boy or girl forgets 
one article or puts it in the wrong order, he 
or she must drop out of the game, and so on 
until only one child remains. 

59 



60 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Blowing Ping-pong Balls. Arrange the play- 
ers with their hands behind them along the sides 
of a long extension table, do\vn the centre of 
which a row of ping-pong balls are placed at 
intervals of about two feet. Appoint two 
judges and place them at the ends of the table. 
At a given word, the players on both sides begin 
to blow the balls, endeavoring to blow them 
ofif their opponents' side of the table and to 
prevent any balls from being blown off of their 
own side. Each ball blown off counts five 
points. The game is loo points. 

Doing the Impossible. A sure way to raise 
a laugh among a party of friends, is to claim 
that you can do an apparently impossible thing, 
and then get your friends to try it; then, when 
they have tried and failed, do the very thing 
they failed on, in a simple way which has never 
occurred to them. Here is a deception which 
seldom fails to work and which always provides 
a lot of fun, even to those who are fooled by it. 

Begin by saying something about ant-eaters, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 61 

which have such long tongues that they can 
touch the ground with them without lowering 
their heads, and then ask one of your friends if 
he can put out his tongue and touch his ear. 
He will try, gently at first, then harder, and at 
length make the funniest faces by trying to do 
that, which is of course, impossible. Then 
others will try poking their tongues out of the 
corners of their mouths, and trying to curl 
them around their cheeks until their ears are 
reached. 

When they have finished, you put out your 
tongue, and touch your ear with your finger. 

The Game of " It." Here is a game that 
will amuse any party, but you must first find 
out adroitly that there is at least one person 
in the company who has never been initiated 
into the mysteries. This one is chosen to leave 
the room, but before he goes he must be told 
that those in the room wall select an object 
which he is to guess on his return. He may 
ask as many questions as he wishes when the 



62 HOME ENTERTAINING 

time comes, one question at a time of each 
person consecutively, but his questions must 
be so worded that they may be answered by 
" Yes/' '' No/' or " I do not know.'' 

When all this has been explained, the guesser 
leaves the room. The leader then arranges 
the party in a circle, seating alternately a boy 
with a girl, if possible, and explaining that each 
person must think of the one sitting on his or 
her left, as the object chosen, and answer all 
questions as if they applied to that person. 
You may imagine that the conflicting answers 
arising from such an arrangement will confuse 
the questioner, and much fun will be derived 
by those in the secret. 

For instance the questioner may ask of No. 
I, who is a girl, ^^ Has it life? " No i answers 
^^ Yes." He then asks No. 2, who is a boy, " Is 
it pretty? " and No. 2 very naturally answers 
^^ Yes," for he is speaking of the girl at his^eft. 
Then of No. 3, who is a girl, ^' Is it a girl? " and 
No. 3, thinking of the boy on her left, answers 
'' No." 



HOME ENTERTAINING 63 

All this throws the questioner off the track 
— it has life, it is pretty, but it is not a girl. So 
he naturally asks No. 4, who is a boy, "Is it a 
boy? '' and No. 4 answers " No." 

The questions will now be varied, to find 
something with life that is pretty, and is neither 
a girl nor a boy, and the result will be very amu- 
sing. 

Or the questioner may ask such questions 
as " Is its hair long? '^ " Does it wear short 
sleeves? '' and so on, and all the conflicting 
answers will tend to prolong the game to any 
desired extent. 

The Game of ^* Tiartle.'' Here is a game for 
boys who have good, strong muscles. It is 
called " turtle." Any number may play, and 
the game commences by all sitting in a row 
resting their chins on their knees, and each 
holding his left ankle with his right hand, and 
his right ankle with his left hand. This is a 
very difficult position to keep. At a given 
signal, the turtles start for a goal a short dis- 



64 HOME ENTERTAINING 

tance away. It is the object of the game for 
the turtles to waddle to the goal and back to 
the starting point without removing their hands 
from their feet. The winner is, of course, the 
one who returns to the starting point first. 

The Game of " Empty Hands." Some mem- 
ber of the household produces a quantity of 
small cards. The number is not quite sufficient 
to ^^ go round " the company, an intentional 
feature of the game. Four persons find them- 
selves empty-handed when the bell rings. This 
bell is a signal for the passing, the object being 
to find some one without a card and rid one's 
self of the one in hand by passing it on. No 
one to whom a card is offered is allowed to 
refuse it, unless, of course, he already holds 
one. If empty-handed he is obhged to receive 
the unwelcome gift and try to get rid of it as 
quickly as possible. 

Each time the bell rings which occurs at 
irregular intervals, making it impossible to 
calculate, the passing ceases, and all having 



HOME ENTERTAINING 65 

empty hands win a point to count towards the 
final prize. The boy or girl having most points 
when the passing is over, receives a prize. 

Simon Says. The players are arranged in a 
line, the player who enacts Simon standing in 
front. He and aU the others clench their fists, 
keeping the thumb pointed upwards. No 
player is to obey his commands unless prefaced 
with the words, '^ Simon says." Simon is him- 
self subjected to the same rules. The game 
commences by Simon commanding, ^' Simon 
says, ' Turn up,' " on which he turns his thumb 
upwards, followed by the other players. He 
then says '' Simon says, ^ Turn down,' " and 
brings his hands back again. When he has done 
so several times, and thinks that the players 
are off their guard, he merely gives the word, 
^^ Turn up," or ^^ Turn down," without moving 
his hands. Some one, if not all, is sure to obey 
the command, and is subject to a forfeit. Simon 
is also subject to a forfeit, if he tells his com- 
panions to turn down, if the thumbs are already 



66 HOME ENTERTAINING 

down, or vice versa. With a sharp player en- 
acting Simon, the game is very spirited. 

The simpHcity of this game constitutes its 
chief charm, as the very fact of its being so 
simple, sometimes leads to inattention on the 
part of some of the players, which is sure to 
result in their being caught. 

Passing Bean-bags. Make twelve or fifteen 
bags, six inches square, of bed-ticking, and 
loosely fill them with beans which have been 
washed and dried to remove the dust. 

Appoint two leaders, who choose sides, ar- 
ranging the sides in fines facing each other, with 
a small table at each end of each line. 

The bean-bags being equally divided, each 
leader deposits his share upon the table nearest 
him. Then, at a given signal, seizing one bag 
at a time with one hand, with the other he 
starts it down the line, each player passing it 
to the next, until all the bags reach the last, 
who drops them upon the table at his end of the 
line. When all the bags have reached this 



HOME ENTERTAINING 67 

table, the last player, seizing each in turn, 
sends them back up the line to the leader, who 
drops them upon his table. Whichever side 
j&rst succeeds in passing all the bags down the 
line and back, wins the round. It takes five 
rounds to make a game, so that three out 
of five must be successful for the winning 
side. 

Buzz. This is a simple little game that needs 
no preparation, but can be started in a moment 
when there is danger of dullness. A large com- 
pany can play equally as well as a small. The 
leader instructs the company that they will now 
proceed to count in regular order until they 
come to seven, any multiple of seven, or any 
number having seven in it, when they will sub- 
stitute the word ^^ buzz " for that number. 
Should they fail to do this they will be dropped 
from the circle. This will continue until every 
one has blundered. When the higher numbers 
are reached it takes one quick in quantities 
tofoUowit. Given properly it goes: i, 2, 3, 4, 



68 HOME ENTERTAINING 

5, 6, buzz, 8, 9, lo, ii, 12, 13, buzz, 15, 16, 
buzz, 18, 19, 20, buzz, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, buzz, 
buzz, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, buzz, etc. 

Can You Laugh? This is a little entertain- 
ment that will fill in some vacant spot in an 
evening, or will serve as an impromptu. It can 
be tried either by the ladies or gentlemen. If 
the ladies try it (and this is likely to be more 
successful, as they laugh easier than men), let 
them stand in a row. The gentlemen are then 
to endeavor to make them laugh by every 
means possible, except to touch or threaten 
to touch. The least departure from perfect 
soberness is called a laugh, and the lady is to 
step out of the line and join the gentlemen in 
her endeavor to make the ladies laugh. If it 
is desired that a prize be given, it may be 
given to the lady who keeps from laughing 
longest. 

An Optical Game. Present a ring to a per- 
son, or place it at some distance and in such a 
manner that the plane of it shall be turned 



HOME ENTERTAINING 69 

towards a person's face; and then bid him 
shut one of his eyes, and try to push through 
it a crooked stick of sufficient length to reach 
it; he will very rarely succeed. 

Blowing the Feather. A sunple and success- 
ful game is this old-fashioned one. Having 
provided a sheet or tablecloth and 'a small 
feather such as sofa pillows are stuffed with, 
ask your guests (all but one) to be seated on 
the floor in a hollow square. The tablecloth or 
sheet is then spread so that the players can 
hold the edges of the sides and ends up, just 
under their chins, thus stretching the cloth 
taut about a foot and a half above the floor. 
Upon the cloth the small feather is placed, and 
the player who is left out of the square is then 
told that he must do his best to catch it either 
in front of or upon some one of the seated play- 
ers, who will then be obliged to take his place. 
At a signal, the players on the floor begin to 
blow, and the feather flies hither and thither, 
never resting, while amid much laughter the 



70 HOME ENTERTAINING 

player who is out flies hither and thither, too, 
until he catches it at last on some unwary in- 
dividual or some one too weak from laughing to 
blow quickly and effectively. 

Throwing the Handkerchief. Two sides be- 
ing seated in two rows facing each other, a 
knotted handkerchief is thrown suddenly at 
one of the players opposite, caUing out at the 
same tune, either " Earth! '' '' Water! '^ '' Air! '^ 
or '' Fire! '' Ji " Earth '' is called, the player 
into whose lap the handkerchief falls must 
name some quadruped before the other can 
count ten; if '' Air," a bird; if ^^ Water,'' a fish; 
and if ^^ Fire,'' he must remain perfectly still. 
Should the player fail to name an animal, or 
name the wrong one, or speak when he ought 
to be silent, he must drop out of the game, and 
the player who threw the handkerchief at him, 
may take and throw it at some one else. But 
should he answer properly, he must throw the 
handkerchief at a player on the opposite side, 
call an element and count ten. In this 



HOME ENTERTAINING 71 

way the game goes on until all but one have 
dropped out, the remaining one being the 
winner. 

Going to Jerusalem. Get a line of chairs, 
every other one facing an opposite direction, 
one less chair than the number of people. As 
the piano is played, they march around the line 
of chairs, and as the music suddenly stops, 
each one tries to sit on the nearest chair, and 
of course some one is left standing and is out 
of the game. The music starts again, and one 
chair is taken out. The same thing is repeated 
until there are two people left to one chair. 
It is very amusing to watch these two cautiously 
moving about this chair, ready to seize it the 
instant the music stops. 

Find the Whistle. All the children but one 
sit down in a circle. The one that is left stand- 
ing, must be the one who does not know the 
game. Some one takes a string, fastens a 
whistle to one end of it, and a bent pin to the 
other, then quietly and secretly attaches the 



72 HOME ENTERTAINING 

string by the hook to the person's back. E^'ery 
time he turns his back toward any one. the 
whistle is taken and blown. So it goes until 
the whistle is discovered. 

The All-around Story Game. One person in 
the room begins to relate a story, and after tell- 
ing enough to interest the hearers and arouse 
their curiosity, suddenly breaking off, throws 
a knotted handkerchief at some member of the 
party, calling upon him to continue the story. 
This is kept up as long as possible. The more 
absurd and improbable the better. If any one 
fails to respond upon receiving the handker- 
chief, he or she must drop out. The one re- 
maining last wins. 

An Obstacle Game. Set stools, chairs, ta- 
bles, or anything that is an obstacle in the most 
convenient place in the room; let those who 
are to take part in the game have two minutes 
to get their bearings. Then they leave the 
room and come back blindfolded. In the 
meantime, all the obstacles have been removed, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 73 

but the warning cries of ^' Look out! '^ and the 
absurd attempts of the players to remember 
where the obstacles were, make much fun. 

Impudence. This is played with two packs 
of cards. Seat the players around the table 
and deal to them, one at a time all around, 
a whole pack of cards; placing the other pack, 
face downward, in the centre of the table. 

The first player begins by turning up a 
card from the pack on the table, at the same 
time asking some uncompUmentary question, 
which is supposed to apply to the person hold- 
ing the corresponding card. This unfortunate 
player has a speedy revenge, however, as it 
is his privilege to turn the next card and ask 
the next question. 

Example: A [turning up card] — "Who is 
the most selfish person in this room? " 

B [who holds the duplicate] — " Evidently 
I am, but [turning another card] who is the 
most conceited? " 

C — '' That must be I. Now [turning card]. 



74 HOME ENTERTAINING 

let us see who is the stingiest." And so on 
till the pack is exhausted. 

Rolling Chase-ball. Two teams may play 
this game, and two big balls or footballs are 
used. The teams line up in parallel rows, the 
players not facing each other, but behind one 
another all facing the same way. The leader of 
each team holds a ball in both hands. 

At the appointed signal, the leader, without 
bending his body or turning his head, tosses 
the ball backward to the player behind him. 
The ball is tossed backward again, and so 
passes along the Hne. The end player then 
runs to the head of the line, and the whole proc- 
ess is repeated over again. The end player 
again goes to the front, and the game is contin- 
ued until the original leader of the team is 
again at the head of his line. The team first 
reaching its order of formation wins the game. 

It is essential that the ball should travel 
swiftly. Should any player drop the ball, he 
must run for it and regain his place in the line 



HOME ENTERTAINING 75 

before passing it on. Should a toss be so strong 
as to pass above the player behind, so that he 
fails to receive the ball, the ball must be passed 
back so that the missed player shall handle it. 



TRICKS 
THE SHARPERS OUTWITTED 

Two naughty, sporty Bunco Steers 
Would go through country towns, 

With cards and other games of chance 
To fleece the Farmer Clowns. 

And though the Farmers tried and tried 

To win, I'll tell you that 
The harvest of those Bunco Steers 

Was always mighty fat. 

But one fine day, while these two Steers 
Were at their naughty work, 

A simple looking, rustic Fox 
Addressed them with a smirk. 

" Bah! What a simple lot of stunts! 

They're plain as two and two. 
Come, let me show you now a trick 

That neither one can do.'' 

Three little sticks then, side by side, 

He placed upon the table. 
" Now blow the middle one away, 

Good sirs, if you are able." 
76 



HOME ENTERTAINING 77 

The Steers then tried and blew and blew 

Till they could blow no more, 
For every time they blew, they'd blow 

The three sticks to the floor. 

^' Here's all the money that we've got," 

The Steers were forced to say; 
^' Now, smarty Fox, perform the trick 

And take the cash away. 

'^ But if you fail, please rest assured 

We'll whip you nigh to death. 
You must not trifle with us two 

And make us lose our breath." 

The Fox just grinned, '^ I'll take the bet. 

You'll see what I can do." 
He fixed the sticks and put his paws 

Upon the outside two. 

And when he blew, the middle one 

Went sailing through the air. 
And lifting up his paws he showed 

The other two were there. 

The Fox then quickly took the cash 

Which they had posted handy, 
And running off, he cried to them, 

'' Now wasn't that a dandy? " 

And thus it is with lots of Rogues 
As through this world they strut, 



78 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Their wits are oft so keen and sharp, 
It's but themselves they cut. 

The Raised Hand. Tell some person to pick 
up a coin in one hand and hold that hand above 
his head while he counts twenty, aloud and 
slowly. Before the person picks up the coin, 
you leave the room and return just after he 
finishes counting, but not so soon that you can 
see in which hand he had the coin. Nevertheless 
you tell him correctly every time, which hand 
he had raised. The way this trick is done, is 
exceedingly simple. On entering the room, 
after the person has counted twenty you look 
at his hand. The one which he has raised 
above his head will be white, as the blood has 
run down from the fingers and hand; the other 
one will remain its natural color. 

Unconscious Movements. Slit a match at 
the wrong end and cut another one on the 
slant. Now place one within the other, so 
as to form an acute angle, and set these united 
matches astride the blade of a dinner knife. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 79 

Impress on the experimenter to allow the 
phosphorus ends lightly to touch the table, but 
on no account to move away from its sur- 
face. The matches will now begin to march 
along the blade. In order to render the ex- 
periment more attractive, cause the two matches 
to imitate the legs of a Httle man by placing 
a painted puppet on top of them. 

Another way: Take two straws from a stiff 
broom. Cut one in half and fold each piece 
into the shape of a hairpin. Place one astride 
on each end of the long knife, which you hold 
steadily, and if on a level surface they will walk 
towards each other until they meet in the 
middle. 

The Broken Match Restored. The per- 
former requests a member of the audience to 
give him an ordinary wooden match, first 
marking the same for the purpose of identi- 
fication. He then wraps the match in a hand- 
kerchief, in which condition he hands it to a 
spectator with the request to break the match, 



80 HOME ENTERTAINING 

still enclosed in the handkerchief, to pieces. 
This is done, after which, the handkerchief 
is shaken out and the marked match falls 
from its fold quite restored. 

The secret of this trick consists in having a 
duplicate match concealed in the hem of the 
handkerchief from the outset. The marked 
match is simply lodged in the fold of the hand- 
kerchief, the one in the hem being brought up 
to the centre and put into the hands of the 
spectator. It is, therefore, the one in the hem 
that is broken, the hem serving to retain the 
pieces, the marked match falling out as the 
handkerchief is shaken. A silk handkerchief 
with a narrow hemstitched border is the 
most convenient to use, for the reason that the 
broken match is the more readily removed 
and a fresh one inserted for future occasion. 

The Cent and the Hole. In a piece of stout 
paper, cut a circle three-sixteenths of an inch 
less in diameter than a penny. Ask any one 
to pass a penny through the hole without touch- 



HOME ENTERTAINING &! 

ing the coin or tearing the paper. Fold the 
paper exactly across the centre of the hole, 
and then take it in both hands and ask some one 
to drop the penny into the fold. Let it rest 
just over the hole, its lower edge projecting 
below. Bend the corners of the paper slightly 
upwards. This elongates the opening, and if 
the movement be continued, the penny will 
after a second or two fall through by the force 
of its own weight. The paper remains unin- 
jured. 

Mysterious Reading. The performer takes 
a piece of paper about eight inches square 
and tears a strip about two inches wide off of 
each side, then tears these two strips in half. 
This gives four pieces of paper, each two inches 
wide and four inches long. Upon these pieces 
of paper, he requests different persons to write 
the names of persons who are dead. Taking 
the remaining piece of paper, he tears into two 
strips and each strip is torn in half. This 
again gives four pieces of paper, the same 



82 HOME ENTERTAINING 

size as the other four. Upon these pieces of 
paper, the performer requests other persons 
to write the names of some living persons. 
The holders of the pieces of paper are now re- 
quested to fold them over twice and place them 
in a hat. The performer takes these pieces 
of paper from the hat, one at a time, and by 
simply holding them upon the top of his head, 
can tell whether the name is that of a live 
person or a dead person, making such remarks 
as cause it to seem the more mysterious. 

To perform this, take any piece of writing 
paper, eight inches square, and tear off both 
outer edges (right and left) for the first two 
strips. These two pieces of paper have now 
one straight or smooth edge and one (the torn 
edge) rough edge. Remember this. On these 
pieces are to be written the names of the dead. 
When you feel them on top of your head, if 
they have a smooth edge and a rough edge 
it is of course the name of a dead person. 
The other piece of paper, when torn into two 
strips^ has both edges rough, and upon these 



HOME ENTERTAINING 83 

pieces are written the names of living persons. 
When you feel the paper on your head has no 
smooth edge, both edges being rough, it must 
contain the name of a living person. 

The Baffling Card. Take an ordinary visit- 
ing card and bend down the ends at right 
angles to the card, about a quarter of an inch, 
then laying it on a smooth table, ends down, 
ask any person to blow it over. This seems 
easy enough, but it may be tried for hours 
without succeeding. It is, however, to be done 
by blowing sharply on the table at some dis- 
tance from the card. 

A Watch Trick. Ask a person to think of 
a number on the dial of a watch from one to 
twelve, but not to tell you what that number 
is. Then, with a pencil, you tap various num- 
bers on the dial and he counts the tappings 
silently, beginning with the next number higher 
than the one of which he thought. That is, 
if he thought of the number five, he would count 
silently six, seven, eight, nine, etc., or if he 



84 HOME ENTERTAINING 

thought of nine, for example, he would count 
to himself ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, etc., etc. 
When he has counted to the number " twenty " 
he must say, '' Stop," and your pencil, or what- 
ever you are using to tap the watch, will be 
on the number of which he thought but did 
not tell you. 

There is just one point about this trick for 
you to remember. When you tap the face of 
the watch with your pencil, you also count 
silently, beginning with one and counting to 
yourself, one, two, three, four, etc., etc. It 
does not matter what numbers you touch for 
the first seven, but the eighth tap must be on 
the figure twelve, and then go around the dial 
backward, the ninth tap on eleven, the tenth 
on ten, the eleventh on nine, etc., until you 
reach the one selected. 

Silk From Paper. ^' I have three pieces of 
paper — red, white, and blue. I am going 
to burn them. I light them first. I find they 
burn better that way." 



HOME ENTERTAINING 85 

The conjurer has previously at least four 
yards of red, white, and blue ribbons — twelve 
yards in all — stitched together at one end, rolled 
up, and placed under the top of the right arm. 

The pieces of paper are picked up with the 
right hand, and the ends are twisted together 
tightly, otherwise the papers would burn too 
quickly and scorch the conjuror's hands. The 
papers are held in the flames of the candle for 
a second, and while they are burning, the con- 
jurer draws attention to his empty left hand, and 
then to the fact that his right hand contains 
only the burning papers. When the conjurer 
is going to show that he has nothing concealed 
in his sleeves, he draws up the right sleeve with 
the left hand, and takes the ribbon from under 
the arm. 

Then in order to be able to draw the left 
sleeve up with the right hand, he is obliged 
to put the burnt papers into the left hand. 
HeMraws up the left sleeve, closes his right hand 
over his left, and then crushes the burnt papers. 
In doing this he gets hold of the piece of silk 



86 HOME ENTERTAINING 

with his right hand, and, bringing his right hand 
sHghtly towards the body, and turning a little 
to the left, he throws his right hand vigorously 
forward and the ribbons unfold. 

The Obedient Ball. A wooden ball about 
two inches in diameter is given for examina- 
tion. A hole one-half inch in diameter runs 
through the ball. A small cord is next passed 
for examination. The performer runs the cord 
through the hole in the ball, and causes the 
ball to run up the cord, and stop wherever he 
wishes it to. Again the ball and cord are handed 
for inspection. 

After the performer hands out the cord for 
inspection, he lays it on his table, and after the 
ball is duly inspected, the performer picks up 
the cord and with it a piece of black silk thread, 
and runs it through the hole in the ball with the 
cord; the other end of thread passes out be- 
hind the scenes to his assistant. Take one end 
of the cord in one hand, and the other end 
of the cord and thread in the upper hand. Now 



HOME ENTERTAINING 87 

by pulling the thread taut, the ball will stop; 
when it reaches the bottom of the cord, the 
assistant pulls the thread, and causes the ball 
to ascend. By dropping the black thread, all 
can be examined once more, to the mystifi- 
cation of all concerned. 

Tricks with a Pen. Can you write your 
name with your left hand? It is a good thing to 
know how, in case you ever hurt your right 
hand. 

Can you write a looking-glass letter? That 
always amuses children; so if you have a friend 
who is ill, send her a looking-glass letter to 
cheer her up. 

Practise by writing on a piece of paper held 
front of a mirror, and soon you will find it is 
quite easy to do looking-glass writing. Look- 
ing-glass writing is done backward, so that 
it looks all right when it is held to the mirror. 

Also see if you can write your name backward 
— that is, begin at the last stroke and go back 
to the first — and as a last trick try to write 



88 HOME ENTERTAINING 

your name upside down. That is not at all 
easy, but copy your signature upside down and 
you will be able to do it quite well after a 
little practice. 

The Dice and Cup. Take from the back- 
gammon board two dice and the dice cup or 
shaker. Hold the cup in your right hand by 
putting your thumb and second finger around 
the bottom of it, at the same time holding 
one of the dice with the tips of the same finger 
and thumb. Next put the other die on top of 
the one you are holding. You will, of course, 
need the aid of your left hand in arranging 
the dice and cup in your right. 

Now, by a quick upward movement of your 
right hand, send the top die flying up into the 
air, and as it comes down catch it in the cup. 

Now comes the real trick — to get the other 
die in the cup also. If you try to do this by 
throwing the die upward as you threw the first 
one, you may catch it in the cup all right, but at 
the same time you will be pretty sure to throw 



HOME ENTERTAINING 89 

the first one out of the cup. As for catching 
both together as they come down, you will 
find that almost impossible. The proper way 
to get the second die into the cup without 
losing the one that is already there, is, to let 
your hand drop suddenly, at the same time 
letting go the die which you have been holding; 
The die will drop too, but not as rapidly 
as your hand, so that you will have no difficulty 
in getting the cup under it and catching it. 

The Surprising Paper Bands. Cut three 
bands of paper about twenty-four inches long 
and two inches wide. In preparing the first 
strip of paper, simply gum the ends together, 
for the second strip, twist once and gum the 
ends together; for the third strip, twist twice 
and then gum the ends together. Now cut 
each of the bands in the centre lengthways and 
notice the results. In twisting the papers, it 
should be done unobserved. 

Napkin-ring Trick. While waiting for des- 
sert at dinner, it is fun for the family at table 



90 HOME ENTERTAINING 

to exchange tricks. One is the napkin-ring 
trick. Holding your napkin-ring in one hand, 
look from your glass tumbler to some large 
object — say, the sugar-bowl, — pretending to 
hesitate between the two, then pick up the 
glass tumbler and say: '^ Safer to take the 
smaller article." Then look aroimd, and say: 
^^ Will any of you beheve me when I say that 
I can push this glass full of water through this 
napkin-ring? '' Something may be added about 
a newly discovered way of compressing glass. 

Then you should set the glass do^m solemnly, 
place your napkin-ring in front of it, and, ^vith 
an impressive flourish of your hand, thrust 
your finger through the napkin-ring and give 
the glass a shove. 

^^ There! '' you may exclaim in triumph, 
" Haven't I pushed the glass through the 
napkin-ring? " 

The Magical Cups of Tin. This little trick, 
performed in a parlor, will make you appear 
quite a magician. Get beforehand two per- 



HOME ENTERTAINING 91 

fectly plain tin cups, without handles and with 
the bottom sunk about a quarter of an inch, 
and straight sides. On the sunken bottom of 
each put some glue, and over it drop some bird- 
seed, so that it looks as if the cups were full, 
whereas they are really standing upside down 
and the layer of seed is glued to the outside 
of the bottom. 

When you are ready to perform the trick, 
have a bag of the same kind of seed, and, 
standing off from your audience, hold the cups 
so that they can see that they are empty, but 
don't allow any one to approach you. 

Now take one cup and dip it into the bag 
of seed, but instead of filling it, turn it upside 
down, so that when you take it out the seed 
glued to the bottom wiU show, and every one 
will think it is full. 

Place the apparently full cup of seed under 
a hat, but in doing so dexterously turn it so 
that the empty cup is upright and the glued 
seed at the bottom. Don't let your audience 
see this turn. 



92 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Now take the other cup, which is empty, and 
let them see you put it under another hat, but 
also turn this one, so that they do not see you 
do it. This brings the seed to the top and shows 
an apparently full cup, and when you remove 
the hat, after pronouncing some magic words, 
it will look as if the cups had changed places. 

Remove the cups before any one has a chance 
to examine them. 

The Elusive Cork. Lay any bottle of fair 
size with an open mouth on its side, and lay 
in the mouth of the bottle a piece of cork about 
the size of a pea. Ask any of the spectators to 
try to blow the cork into the bottle, and, try 
as they may, they will find that they cannot 
do it, as the piece of cork will always fly back 
in the face of the blower. 

The Three Pennies. Three pennies are 
placed flat on the table, two tails and one head. 
The two tails are together and the head penny 
is some inches away. The coin with the head 
upwards must be placed between the other 



HOME ENTERTAINING 93 

two coins without the tail penny nearest the 
head being taken away, and the other coin 
must not be touched. People not in the secret 
will not attempt to solve the problem, as they 
say it cannot be done. 

This seemingly impossible trick is quite 
simple once you have learned the secret. Throw 
the head penny flat with some force, striking 
the tail penny nearest, at the same time hold- 
ing the coin. This action will shoot the second 
coin (which you must not touch) and throw it 
some distance away. All that is left to be done 
is to put the head penny between the two coins. 

A Lesson in Gravity. Stand against the 
waU with the left side, the cheek, hip, and foot 
touching it; then try lifting the right leg with- 
out moving the body away from the wall. It 
is laughable to see children trying to perform 
this feat, for it is one of the things that are im- 
possible to accompHsh. 

The Tantalizing Half-dollar. Place a boy 
with his back against the wall, his heels stand- 



94 HOME ENTERTAINING 

ing firmly against it. Lay a half-dollar on the 
floor in front of him, about a foot distant from 
his toes, and tell him it is his if he can pick 
it up without moving his heels from against 
the wall. In vain will he try to get the coin 
under the conditions prescribed, for this feat 
is another of the impossible ones. 

Drawing Matches to Win. Take 15 matches, 
bunch them up so they cannot be easily counted, 
lay them on a table, and tell some person 
that you will allow him to start the game, 
by drawing from the pile one, two or three 
matches — but no more. Tell him that you 
have the same privilege, and that you intend 
that he shall draw the last match, or, at least, 
that you will leave the last for him to draw. 

If you watch your turns carefully you will 
succeed perfectly, unless, of course, your op- 
ponent is acquainted with the system — and 
very few persons are. 

If he should first draw one, you draw one. 
If his second draw should be three, then you 



HOME ENTERTAINING 95 

draw one again. Observe now that there are 
six drawn. In order to assure yourself of win- 
ning, make certain that this is the case either 
at your first or second draw — get six ofif the 
board. Then there are nine remaining. The 
next time you draw let it make four with what 
he draws, leaving five still to be drawn. Now 
if he draws three, you take one; if he draws two, 
you take two, and so on. You will thus see that 
the last match will always be left to your 
opponent. 

He will now surely want to try it again. This 
time you begin the drawing by taking one, 
as he did at first, making a remark to that 
effect. Whatever number he takes, it cannot 
make the six. But should he follow your 
example and take but one, you still must be 
careful and trust to luck and careful computa- 
tion, taking only one more on your second 
draw, which will make three off. The chances 
are small that he will take the remaining 
three to make the six. But if he does, 
it is an evidence that he is ^^ getting on,'' 



96 HOME ENTERTAINING 

and he may possibly (but not probably) 
beat you. 

Whether he does or does not, you simply 
let him start out again, and you proceed to 
follow according to his lead. You will defeat 
him nine times in ten without your being 
compelled to make your play certain, which 
can be done when you get your first draw, as 
follows: draw two; he cannot then defeat 
you, for whatever he draws, he will still leave 
from one to three for you, and you take the 
sixth off, when the rest is easy. Better not do 
this until he is quite sure that he has ^' dis- 
covered " your method, when this will put him 
all at sea again. This game is great fun, and 
will puzzle all of your friends. 

Eye-Errors and Ghosts. A few experiments 
with the eyes will be found very interesting, 
and to the uninitiated, very queer. If you will 
hold up your forefinger about a foot from your 
face, and look at a tree or object beyond it, or 
at any tall object, you will see your finger 



HOME ENTERTAINING 97 

double. Then look directly at your finger and 
you will see the tree double. 

The explanation is that each eye sees sepa- 
rately, and when both are looking at the finger 
the right eye sees the tree or object on the right 
side of the finger and the left eye sees it on the 
left. When, however, you look at the tree 
directly with both eyes, each eye sees the 
finger apparently in a different place. If you 
will cover the one eye and look with the other, 
you cannot see either the tree or the finger 
double, which is the proof of the experi- 
ment. 

Place two bits of white paper about a foot 
apart on a table. Cover the right eye and look 
steadily at the right-hand piece of paper with 
the left eye. By stepping backward you will 
reach a spot where the left-hand piece of paper 
will disappear. You can make the right-hand 
piece of paper disappear by looking at the left- 
hand piece of paper with the right eye. 

When you have made one disappear in this 
way, move your head ever so slightly backward 



98 HOME ENTERTAINING 

or forward, and the paper will instantly re- 
appear. The reason of this is that every per- 
son's eye has a blind spot on the retina, and 
when an image of the piece of paper falls on 
the spot it cannot be seen. 

Instead of snatching the paper away after 
looking at it steadily, look up at the ceiling 
and the image will be seen there. These 
^^ ghosts," as they are sometimes called, are 
caused by the action of light on the retina of 
the eye. 

The Detaining Hand-clasp. Grasp a person 
firmly by the wrists as if you were about to 
handcuff him, and say that you can clasp his 
hands in such a way that he cannot leave the 
room without unclasping them. Probably he 
will look sharply at you for a while, trying to 
divine your purpose, and if you maintain your 
firm hold on his wrists, he will be led to believe 
that you intend to use your strength for the 
puqiose. 

Then lead him to a table and seating him on 



HOME ENTERTAINING 99 

a chair by it, clasp his hands about one of the 
legs. Of course, he cannot now leave the room 
without unclasping them unless he overturns the 
table or drags it with him. 

The Pictorial Nail. By having in your 
possession an extraordinarily strong magnet, 
you can perform the following very effective 
trick. Prepare a large frame with a paper 
centre, now take a crayon and draw a nail or 
a hook, then borrow a key or key-ring and make 
the announcement that you will hang one of 
the articles on the picture. This is easy if you 
have an assistant in the rear, with the 
magnet attached to a stick, which he holds 
directly in the rear of the drawn picture, 
the magnet holding the article on the 
front. 

Cane Trick. Measure the length of your 
forearm along a cane by placing your elbow 
even with its head and marking the point to 
which the tip of your middle finger reaches. 

Take hold of your cane with your middle 



h 



100 HOME ENTERTAINING 

finger, covering the mark, and your little finger 
nearest to the head. The cane must be at right 
angles to the hand and be grasped firmly so 
that the tips of all the fingers are pressed tightly 
against the palm of the hand. It is not " fair " 
to hold the cane obliquely. 

Now try to put the head of the cane to your 
lips. If you succeed you are an exception to 
the general rule, and even you will probably 
fail if you hold the cane, in the same manner, 
at a point a little further from the head. 

But any one can do the trick easily by 
holding the cane at a less distance from its 
head than the length of his forearm. 



PANTOMIMES 

General Directions. The best place for a 
pantomime show is where two rooms are 
connected by folding doors. A screen or cur- 
tain can be fitted to this opening. Care should 
be given that this screen fits the opening so 
that no light can show over the top or from 
around the sides or bottom. If the screen does 
not fit, this can be remedied by hanging some 
curtains or other draperies at the top and on 
the sides, and by putting carpets or rugs at 
the bottom. 

Now for the screen. This is a sheet or square 
of muslin or light-colored calico, tacked on a 
light wooden frame or to the opening. The 
cloth must be stretched tightly, as any wrinkles 
spoil the effect of the shadows. Dampen 
your cloth before tacking it on the frame, and 

101 



102 HOME ENTERTAINING 

then pull it as tightly as you can before tacking; 
when it dries, it will be found to have drawn 
tightly, and will be free from seams or wrinkles. 

If you desire to have the shadows show up 
sharp and clear, make your screen semi-trans- 
parent by painting it with a solution of par- 
afi&ne wax, dissolved in spirits of turpentine. 
This, of course, should be done at least twenty- 
four hours before your show is to take place, 
so as to give it a chance to thoroughly dry. 

Your theatre is now ready, all but the light, 
and that is prepared and used as follows: 
First, secure a large lamp, and then a large 
pan, which is filled with sand; the lamp is to be 
in the centre of this pan, and the reasons for 
this precaution are obvious, as, should the lamp 
be accidentally overturned, it will not ruin the 
floor covering, as the oil will be absorbed by 
the sand; besides it obviates the risk of a fire 
or explosion. 

You are now all in readiness for your per- 
formance. The light is placed upon the 
floor about four feet from the centre of the 



HOME ENTERTAINING 103 

screen on the actors' side of same; the other 
side of the screen, where your audience sit, 
is, of course, in complete darkness, otherwise 
the shadows of the actors would not be in 
evidence. 

Every one not engaged in the performance, 
but who is behind the screen, waiting for 
his part, must be particular to keep back of 
the light, so their shadows will not be thrown 
on the screen. 

In making entrances and exits, come on 
from the sides, about two feet from the screen, 
and you must remember that the farther you 
are from the screen, and the nearer to the light, 
the larger will be your shadow on the screen. 
Recollect, too, that you must be in profile, or 
sideways to your audience, otherwise the effect 
of your acting is lost; as in case you face 
your audience your actions are aU lost to 
them. 

Aerial Figures. A very funny entrance can be 
made by jumping over the light, which gives 



104 HOME ENTERTAINING 

the appearance on the screen as if you had 
just dropped through the ceiling, and an exit 
by jumping over the light looks like flying 
up there again in a most weird manner. A 
dummy figure (suppose that of a witch, riding 
on the conventional broomstick) is suspended 
by a fine thread or wire on the side of the screen 
remote from the spectators. Behind this are 
ranged, one behind the other, and at right angles 
to the screen, a row of lighted candles. Being 
all in the same line, they throw one shadow 
only on the screen. The figure is now made to 
oscillate slightly, so as to impart some httle 
motion to the shadow. One of the candles is 
now removed from its place in the row, and 
waved gently about, now high, now low, the 
effect to the spectators being that a second 
shadow springs out of the first, and dances 
about it on the screen. A second and third 
candle as it leaves its place in the line pro- 
duces a separate shadow. It is well to have 
three or four assistants, each taking a candle 
in each hand. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 105 

Silhouettes. The idea of projecting sil- 
houettes with the hands on a wall or illuminated 
screen is an old one. These shadows are best 
made on a screen, which is illuminated by a 
single lamp enclosed in a projecting apparatus, 
using acetylene gas. The lens must conse- 
quently be of very short focus. The electric Kght 
may be replaced at the amateur's house by a 
lamp, or better by a wax candle. The candle 
will do very well in a small room where one can 
be in total obscurity except for the candle light. 
The chief fault of this light for shadowgraphy, 
is, that the distance from light to screen 
must necessarily be short, or shadows will not 
be sharp. The oil lamp should not be used if 
another better light can be obtained, because 
the shadows must necessarily be somewhat 
blurred. The main thing to be studied in the 
selection of a light is to get a brilliant point 
of light and not necessarily a large surface. 
Now, an oil lamp, having a large or probably 
double flame, has too large a surface of illmni- 
nation. Moreover, the rays should always 



106 HOME ENTERTAINING 

travel uninterceptedly to the screen, never 
through the glass, and never thrown from a 
reflector. Seeing that a glass chimney and re- 
flector are almost indispensable to an oil lamp, 
there is abundant reason for not using it. If 
the lamp is used, turn the edge and not the 
flat side of the light before the screen. 

Shadow Pictures may be accompanied by a 
phonograph. Care must be taken in arrang- 
ing the lights so that the shadows of the actors 
may be clear cut and not out of proportion to 
the size of the sheet on which they are thrown. 
The concealed phonograph starts, and presto! 
the shadow actors behind the sheet seem to be 
the very embodiment of the voices of the 
records. It i^ difficult to reahze that a machine 
is talking. Especially is this true when the im- 
personators are sufficiently famihar with the 
words as to be able to form them with their lips, 
although not really uttering them. 

Shadow Show. One of the most pleasurable 
forms of entertainment, in which every boy 



HOME ENTERTAINING 107 

and girl takes delight, is the shadow show, 
and a home-made one can be easily constructed 
and varied to your heart's content, if you are 
at all ingenious. 

First secure some light strips of wood one 
inch thick and two inches wide; you will need 
two of these six feet long and two of them three 
feet long. These are to be joined together, 
making a frame six feet high by three feet wide. 

Next secure two strips one inch thick, one 
inch wide, and three feet long, and two strips 
of the same size, but one foot long. Attach the 
one-foot pieces to the three-foot strips six 
inches from each end. 

This frame is to be attached to your larger 
frame, twelve inches from the top. 

Your framework should be joined so that it 
presents a flush, smooth surface at all of the 
joints of the two frames. Over your large 
framework you will now tack or glue black 
paper or muslin, leaving the opening made by 
the smaller frame to be covered by white mus- 
lin, making a semi-transparent screen 12 x 24 



108 HOME ENTERTAINING 

inches, upon which are to be shown the 
figures. 

A piece of tape is stretched across the bot- 
tom of the screen, close to the frame. This 
holds against the frame the figures used in 
the show and at the same time allows a con- 
tinuation of their feet in the cardboard from 
which they are cut to project below, and so be 
held by the exhibitor. 

By means of these continuations below the 
feet, the exhibitor can make the figures glide 
along, rock backward and forward, or sud- 
denly disappear by pulling them downward. 

All the figures should be cut out of card- 
board and should have the projection or con- 
tinuation of the feet. Scenery can be cut out 
the same way, and is quite easy, as you only 
need side screens. The scenes can be held 
by the tape strip or can be fastened to the 
sides by using thumb tacks. The joints of the 
figures are made with bits of broom wire. If 
you want the eyes of the comic figures to roll 
about, string a glass bead upon a thread and 



HOME ENTERTAINING 109 

insert in a place cut for eyes in the figure; 
fasten the thread at either side with a bit of 
glued musKn. During the performance, this 
screen is illuminated by placing a light about 
three feet behind it; the room in which the 
audience is seated being, of course, dark. To 
shut out any light that may shine out at the 
sides or top of the doorway, you should hang 
shawls or strips of your black paper muslin. 

Humorous and grotesque pictures may be 
cut out of newspapers and magazines, pasting 
them on cardboard and then cutting out the 
cardboard. The show may be a pantomime or 
the exhibitor may speak for the different 
characters. All the figures to be used should 
be placed on a table or a chair near the exhib- 
itor or held by an assistant. With a little in- 
genuity you can make the figures so that the 
arms and legs and head work on pivots, at- 
taching them to thread so small that it will 
not cast a shadow on the screen. There is 
hardly any end to the amusement you may 
have in this way. 



CARD TRICKS 

Calling the Cards. To begin with, allow the 
pack of cards to be thoroughly shuffled. WTien 
the pack is returned to you, adroitly notice 
the value (suit and denomination) of the bot- 
tom card, which we will suppose happens to be 
the four of spades. 

Now, with apparent carelessness, throw the 
cards facfe downward on a table and scatter 
them about with your fingers. However, you 
must not lose sight of the bottom card, and 
wherever your fingers may push it your eyes 
should follow also, in order that you may know 
exactly where it lies. The spectators, mean- 
while, are unaware of this knowledge on^your 
part. 
\ Say to those present: "I will now present 

jlo you a mystery which is apparently very 
/ no 



HOME ENTERTAINING 111 

simple, yet to my mind is a profound problem. 
It is one of those mental wonders that cannot 
be readily understood, and the deeper we study 
into them, the farther we seem to be from the 
truth. You will therefore observe closely and 
see what you see.'^ 

You continue: '^ I have, as you probably 

noticed, allowed Mr. to shufifle the cards 

thoroughly and they have been scattered over 
this table at random. I shall allow five cards 
to be selected and I shall endeavor to. name 
each one before it is taken up. In order that 
nobody's attention may be distracted, I shall 
hold the cards taken up until the entire five 
have been selected. To prevent any mistake, 
let some person write the names of the cards 
upon a paper as they are called and see if 
I am correct." 

You will then remark: " I will now call for 
cards, one by one and shall ask Mr. BrowTi 
(any person desired) to make the first selection. 
Mr. Brown, you will please find for me the 
four of spades, without turning the card over." 



112 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Naturally Mr. Brown smiles and says that 
such a thing is impossible. You ask him, how- 
ever, to simply rest his fingers upon the back 
of any card his fancy may dictate. Having 
touched a card, you carefully draw it away from 
the table, making sure that its face cannot be 
seen. Hold it in your hands, close to your body, 
in an easy, unsuspicious manner, just as if 
you were confident the four of spades had been 
selected. Let us suppose, however, that the 
card is the seven of hearts. You remark: 
'^ I will next ask Mr. Jones to touch a card in 
the same manner as did Mr. Brown, but I 
predict beforehand that it will be the seven 
of hearts.'' The card is tapped, and you pick 
it up, as before. Let us suppose this second 
one is the ace of diamonds. If so, you ask 
Mr. Smith to touch a card, which you expect 
to be the ace of diamonds. This, you notice, 
happens to be the queen of hearts. You then 
ask Mr. Robinson to touch a card, which you in- 
tend shall be queen of hearts, and after he'does so 
you secretly ascertain that it is the eight of clubs. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 113 

Up to the present moment, four cards have 
been chosen. For the fifth time, you are to 
have a card selected " by chance." You de- 
cide, however, to save time, that you will try 
your own luck and see if you can pick out the 
eight of clubs. In doing this, you allow your 
finger to rest, with apparent carelessness, upon 
the real four of spades, the position of which 
you have known all the while. Having picked 
up the four of spades, you place it with the 
others in your hand. 

You are now able to produce the five cards 
you have named beforehand, viz.: four of 
spades, seven of hearts, ace of diamonds, 
queen of hearts and eight of clubs. The effect 
upon spectators is indeed surprising. 

Much depends upon the tact which you em- 
ploy in executing this trick. You should first 
impress it in an indirect way upon the minds 
of those present, that your experiment is one 
of actual prevision. It is one of the rules of 
magic to lead the thoughts as well as eyes in 
a wrong direction. Be careful in picking up 



114 HOME ENTERTAINING 

the cards. Do not let any one who is to touch 
a card get ahead of you by turning it over and 
thus exposing your trick. In looking at the 
card after you have taken it into your hand, 
do so adroitly — don't stare at it. As the 
success of the trick depends upon knowing the 
location of one card, do not make a mistake on 
that one. 

The Odd Card. Request one of the company 
to place both hands flat on the table, then in- 
sert between each two fingers of his right hand, 
two cards or one pair at a time; this will re- 
quire four pairs of cards. Follow the same 
method with his left hand but place a single 
card instead of a pair between the third and 
little finger. This will require three pairs and 
an odd card or fifteen cards in all. Now take 
the two cards which are) between the third and 
little finger of his right hand and lay them down 
on the table, separately, side by side, at the 
same time saying, '' That is one pair.'' Then 
take the next pair, separate the two cards and 



HOME ENTERTAINING 115 

lay one on each of the cards already on the 
table and say, " There is another pair." Fol- 
low exactly the same method with the remain- 
ing pairs, making the same remark with each 
until only the odd card remains. When you 
come to the one card, hold it in your own hand 
so that every one may see it. '' Now,'' ex- 
plains the performer, '' we have two heaps 
containing an even number of cards. I have 
one card in my hand. If I place this odd card 
on either of the two even packs, it will make 
that pack odd, will it not? '' The audience 
appealed to in this manner will respond in 
the affirmative. " Now on which pack shall 
I place this odd card? " The card is placed 
on the packet selected. '' Will some one in the 
audience kindly hold this odd packet? " con- 
tinues the performer, handing the packet to 
a lady or gentleman. " I shall hold the even 
packet. My trick is this: I shall undertake 
to pass one card from my packet which con- 
tains an even number of cards to the odd packet, 
held tightly by your representative. Ready! 



116 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Hold tightly, sir. One, two, three! Did you 
feel the card as it struck the pack? No? 
Well, sometimes the impact is imperceptible. 
But the card has arrived nevertheless. Will 
you count the cards in your packet? Wait 
a moment, sir. In the beginning you had the 
odd packet, I believe? And now, (Spectator 
counts the cards) you hold the even card num- 
ber while I have the odd number! (Performer 
counts the cards in his packet.) Isn't it won- 
derful? '' 

Naming the Cards. Divide a pack of cards 
in halves, and place these back to back, when 
one half will be visible to the audience and 
the other half to yourself. Glance quickly at 
the card facing you, and then place the cards 
behind your back. Place the card you saw 
over the card shown to the company, show the 
cards, and call the right card. This will give 
you an opportunity of seeing the next card. 
Produce as before, and do so until you have 
come to the last. It is best, in performing this 



HOME ENTERTAINING 117 

trick, only to keep a few cards turned towards 
yourself, so as not to tire the company and 
possibly lead them to guess how you do the 
trick. 

A Diamond Ace of Hearts. Show the ace 
of diamonds, the ace of spades, and the ace of 
clubs, and lay them face downward on the 
table. Pick up one ace, which you place in 
the middle of the pack: the second ace at the 
bottom, and the third ace at the top of the 
pack. Then ask a spectator to cut the pack 
wherever he or she may like, and no matter 
where the pack is cut, the three aces will be 
found together. 

Commence by withdrawing the four aces from 
the pack: the ace of diamonds you secretly 
place on top of the pack, and arrange the other 
three aces fan- wise as follows: the ace of 
hearts must be inverted, and with the other 
two cards, hide the lower part of the heart and 
the small heart in the ' indicator. Show' the 
three cards thus arranged quickly, and no one 



118 HOME ENTERTAINING 

will imagine that the centre card is not the ace 
of diamonds. 

Lay the three aces face down on the table, 
still arranged fan-wise, pick up the centre card, 
which is really the ace of hearts, and without 
letting any one see its face, slip it anywhere in 
the pack; place the second ace at the bottom 
of the pack and the third, after showing it, 
on top, of course covering the ace of diamonds 
which is already there. It does not signify in 
which place the pack is cut, the three aces 
will be found together when the two parts of 
the pack are reunited. 

A Three-card Trick. This requires the aid 
of three persons. Take three cards, and, hold- 
ing them in front of the first person, request 
him to choose one and think of it. Then lay 
the three cards, face down, in a row on the table, 
and take three more cards, which show to the 
second person, and tell him to remember one 
of them. Place these cards on top of the other 
three, and ask the third person to think of 



HOME ENTERTAINING 119 

one of a third lot, which you show him; then 
lay the last three cards on top of the others. 
You now have three packs of three cards each. 
You lift one pack at a time, and request each 
of the three persons to inform you which pack 
contains the card he thought of. Of course, you 
know that the first person's card must be at the 
bottom of one of the packs, the second per- 
son's card in the middle, and the third person's 
card on top. 

Detection by Smell. This may be played 
upon some one who will take no ofifence at the 
result. Allow the person to shuflEle the cards, 
and then to select any one card, returning the 
pack to the performer. Ask the person to 
remember the card and to show it to the audi- 
ence. While this is being done, the performer 
turns his back, stating that he does not want to 
see the card or get any clue as to what it is. 
While in this position, the bottom card of the 
pack is turned up — and the top card turned 
down. Turning aroimd, he asks the person 



120 HOME ENTERTAINING 

who selected the card, to hold it for a few sec- 
onds between the hands, saying that the card 
will be found by the sense of smell. The per- 
former now asks some one in the company to 
procure a hat. Place it, crown down, a little 
distance from any one. 

Holding the pack tightly, the person holding 
the card is now asked to thrust it into the pack 
wherever he likes. The performer now puts 
the pack in the hat and, taking out a few 
cards, commences to smell of each one. Push- 
ing the cards around, the chosen card will be 
seen with its back the wrong way. When ready, 
take this card, smell of it, with appropriate re- 
marks show it, as the chosen card. 

For a sensational conclusion, you may bring 
the discovered card to the top of the pack, 
and ask the person who selected the card to 
grip the pack tightly by a corner, between the 
thumb and first finger of the right hand, the 
thumb extending about half -inch and the finger 
more, and turn the cards face uppermost. The 
selected card is now, of course, at the bottom 



HOME ENTERTAINING 121 

or lower portion of the pack. Suddenly hit 
the pack a strong downward blow, which will 
knock all the cards on the floor, except the one 
selected, which wUl be left in the grip of the 
party who selected [it, staring him in the face. 

Naming a Drawn Card. The conjurer, hav- 
ing shuffled the cards, asks a member of the 
audience to abstract any card he pleases, to 
look at it, and impress it firmly on his mind. 

While he has been talking, the conjurer has 
been squaring up the cards, and he now holds 
up the pack between the thumb and second 
finger of his left hand. Any other way than 
this of holding the cards will do equally well 
so long as the audience can see that the cards 
are properly squared up. The chooser now 
returns his card to the pack. 

The conjurer then places the cards behind 
his back, draws away three, throws them on 
the table, and asks the chooser if his card is 
among them. The answer is '^ No.'' The 
process of throwing three cards at a time on 



122 HOME ENTERTAINING 

the table is repeated until the chooser says that 
his card is among the three exposed cards. The 
conjurer then names the card. 

The explanation is that when the card is 
returned to the pack, the conjurer is careful to 
notice where it was returned, whether near 
the top, middle, or bottom of the pack. We 
will suppose that it was near the middle. The 
conjurer places the pack behind his back and 
draws off three cards at a time from the top 
of the pack until he has shown — say eighteen 
cards. He will know that the selected card 
was not among them. He then- draws the top 
card and the two bottom cards of the pack 
for the next three, and he continues in this 
way until the chooser says that his card is 
among the three. The conjurer then knows 
at once that it is the top card of the three, 
because the other cards have come from the 
bottom of the pack, and the chosen card has 
been replaced near the middle of the pack. 
If the chosen card is inserted near the middle 
of the pack, several cards from the top may be 



HOME ENTERTAINING 123 

immediately placed on the bottom of the pack 
to save time. 

Grouping the Kings. Select the four kings 
from a pack, and also two jacks. The kings 
you arrange in the shape of a fan, and place 
behind the second one the two knaves, there- 
fore they are hidden from view. You show the 
cards by holding them towards the audience, 
so that they may be satisfied that the cards 
really are kings. Square them together so that 
one king will be on top, then the two jacks 
and then the three kings, and place them on 
the top of the pack. You may remark, " Ladies 
and gentlemen, I propose to separate these 
kings, the first (which you hold towards them), 
I will place at the bottom of the pack, the 
second, (which is a knave) I will place a little 
higher up, the third (also a knave) higher up 
still, and the fourth (which you again exhibit, 
for it is really a king) I will leave on top,'' 
The kings are now three, on top, and one at 
the bottom of the pack; consequently, a single 
cut will bring them together. After a little 



124 HOME ENTERTAINING 

unnecessary pressing, etc., one of the company 
can cut the cards, and kings will be found to 
be in company. 

Detecting a Turned Card. The picture 
cards have commonly a narrow strip for the 
border; this border is usually narrower at one 
end of the card than it is at the other. Place 
three or four of the picture cards in such a 
manner that either all the broader or all the 
narrower borders are placed uppermost. Re- 
quest a spectator to invert one of the cards 
while you are not looking. When done, observe 
the cards and you will easily see which card is 
turned, as its narrower border now lies on a 
level with the broader border of the other cards. 
If they try to mystify you by turning none of the 
cards, you will easily see that this is the case. If 
the performer has a good memory, the border 
may be placed any way, taking due care to 
remember the positions. 

Telling the Number of Transposed Cards. 
The performer allows a spectator to cut a 



HOME ENTERTAINING 125 

pack of cards into two heaps. Now, while the 
performer's back is turned, the spectator is 
requested to transpose any number of cards 
up to ten, from one pack to another. Place 
the two packets together and square up the 
cards. The performer deals from the top of 
the pack about twenty cards, throwing them 
face downward on the table. The performer 
now asks the number of cards transposed, and 
after the spectator has replied, the selected 
card is turned over, and the number of its 
spots corresponds to the number of cards 
transposed. Thus if three cards were trans- 
posed, a three-spot would be turned up. 

The explanation is as follows: The pack is 
pre-arranged in this manner: on an ace, laid 
face downward, place a deuce; on this a tray; 
on this a four; and so on to ten; and then a jack, 
queen, and king. These thirteen cards are on 
top of the pack, and when the pack is cut, 
the performer notes which packet contains 
the arranged cards. He now requests some one 
to select one of the packets, forcing the bottom 



126 HOME ENTERTAINING 

packet. That is, if he selects the bottom packet, 
use that, if he selects the top packet, say '' I 
will take the other." In any case arrange to 
use the bottom packet. A spectator takes any 
any number of cards up to ten from the selected 
packet and passes them on the other packet, 
the performer turning his back while this is 
done. The two packets are now placed to- 
gether, taking care that the packet on which 
the transposed cards were placed is uppermost. 
Now, no matter how many cards were placed 
upon the arranged packet, the fourteenth 
card from the top will always give the correct 
number, so that in deahng off the cards, the 
performer must not lose sight of the fourteenth 
card. Deal off about twenty cards, throwing 
them carelessly on the table, but allowing the 
fourteenth card to be a trifle more exposed than 
the others. This will facilitate the choice of 
the card. The performer now asks the 
number of cards transposed, and after the 
spectator has rephed, the selected card is 
turned over, and the number of its spots 



HOME ENTERTAINING 127 

correspond to the number of cards trans- 
posed. 

The Three Packets. Tell a person to choose 
as he pleases three cards from a euchre pack, 
informing him that an ace counts for eleven, 
a picture card for ten, and the others accord- 
ing to the number of spots. When he has 
chosen these three, tell him to put ■ them on 
the table and to place on each as many cards as 
spots are required to make fifteen. That is 
to say, eight cards would have to be put on 
the seven of clubs, four cards on the ace, and 
a five above the ten. Let him return you the 
rest of the pack, and (while pretending to 
count something in them) count how many 
remain. Add sixteen to this number, and 
you will have the number of spots in the three 
bottom cards. 

A Card Found at the Second Guess, Offer 
the cards to some person, and let him draw 
one. You then hold the cards behind you, 
and tell him to place his card on top. Pretend 



128 HOME ENTERTAINING 

to make a great shuffling, but only turn that 
card with its back to the others, still keeping 
it at the top. Then hold up the cards with 
their faces towards the spectator, and ask him 
if the bottom card is his. (While doing so, 
you inspect his card at your leisure.) He of 
course denies it and then you again put the 
cards behind you, turn over his card so it 
will face with the others and begin shuffling 
again furiously. ^' Let me do that," he will 
probably say; so, as you are perfectly acquainted 
with his card, let him shuffle as much as he likes, 
and then when you get the cards back again, 
shuffle, and show him his own card. 

Pocketing a Chosen Card. The performer 
exhibits four cards, held fanwise in his left 
hand and requests a spectator mentally to 
select one. The performer then takes one of 
the cards and places it in his pocket. Upon 
spreading the cards again the spectator's card 
is missing and the performer draws the men- 
tally selected card from his pocket. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 129 

Four cards are arranged as follows: king 
of clubs, jack of hearts, jack of spades, and 
queen of diamonds. 

Behind the king of clubs, the top card of 
the pack, arrange these three cards, queen of 
clubs, king of spades and jack of diamonds. 
At the outset, the seven cards can be on the 
top of the pack, the last named three cards, 
of course, on top of the king of clubs. 

Give the pack a shuffle, taking care not to 
disturb the seven arranged cards on top. 
Rapidly count off these cards in such a manner 
that the audience cannot see how many cards 
you take. Arrange the king of clubs, jack of 
hearts, jack of spades, and queen of diamonds 
fanwise in the left hand, keeping the three extra 
cards, the queen of clubs, king of spades and 
jack of diamonds concealed behind the king 
of clubs. It does not matter in what order the 
suits of the three concealed cards are arranged. 
The proper method of holding the fan of cards 
is with the left side of the king (and the three 
concealed cards) pressed tightly in the crotch 



130 HOME ENTERTAINING 

of the left thumb, the opposite edge being held 
by the tip of the first finger of the left hand. 
This will keep the cards from spreading and 
bringing the trick to a premature and disas- 
trous conclusion. The other three cards of the 
fan are held between the tips of the left thiunb 
and second and third fingers. 

Turn your back to the spectators and hold 
the fan high above your head, the faces of 
the cards toward the audience, and request a 
spectator to think of one of the cards. When 
the choice has been made, square the cards, 
inserting the little finger between the king of 
clubs and the three cards back of it. Then you 
say: " I shall now place one of the cards in 
my pocket,'' and, suiting the action to the 
words, take the four cards you have just shown, 
and holding them as one card, place them in 
the pocket, leaving the three extra cards in 
your left hand. Ask the spectator to name his 
card. Let us suppose he chose the king of 
clubs. The performer repHes, " The king of 
clubs? Ah, then I read your mind correctly, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 131 

for I placed the king of clubs in my pocket. 
Let me show you first that the king has left 
the pack," The performer spreads the three 
cards, the queen of clubs, the king of spades 
and the jack of diamonds, on the table. He 
then produces the desired card from the pocket. 
As the order of the suits is known, this part 
of the trick is a simple matter. If the chosen 
card is the jack of spades the performer picks 
outjthe third card. A little practice is neces- 
sary in order to make the selection quickly, 
for there must be no fumbling in the pocket- 

The spectator will never detect the substitu- 
tion of the cards; for the ingenious arrangement 
of the suits tends to confuse the mind. 

To Pick Out a Card Thought Of. BUndfold. 
Take twenty-one cards and lay them down in 
three rows with their faces upwards; i. e., when 
you have laid out three, begin again at the left 
hand and lay one card upon the first, and so 
on to the right hand; then begin on the left 
hand again, and so go on until you have laid 



132 HOME ENTERTAINING 

out the twenty-one cards in three heaps, at 
the same time requesting any one to think 
of a card. When you have laid them out, ask 
him which heap his card is in; then lay that 
heap in the middle between the other two. 
This done, lay them out again in three heaps 
as before, and again request him to notice where 
his noted card goes, and put that heap in the 
middle, as before. Then taking up the cards 
with their backs towards you, take the upper- 
most card off and reckon it one; take off an- 
other, which reckon two; and thus proceed 
until you come to the eleventh, which will in- 
variably prove to be the card thought of. This 
trick may be done without your seeing the 
cards at all, if you handle and count them 
carefully. To diversify the trick, you may use 
a different number of cards, but the number 
chosen must be divisible by three, and the 
middle card, after they have been thrice dealt 
as directed, will always be the one thought of; 
for instance, if done with fifteen cards, it must 
be the eighth. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 133 

The Siamese Aces. Two aces are removed 
from the pack, which is then cut into three 
packets. One of the aces is placed on the mid- 
dle packet, and while the performer is exhib- 
iting the remaining ace, one of the spectators 
'^ mahciously ^' transfers a few cards from 
either of the outside packets to the top of the 
middle heap. The performer, not noticing 
this disarrangement of the cards, places the 
second ace on top of the first, and the two on 
top of the middle heap, presimiably on top of 
the first ace, although the spectators, who 
blithely imagine they are in a conspiracy against 
the performer, know otherwise. The cards are 
now dealt from the bottom, face upward, and 
the two aces come together. 

The solution of the mystery is as follows. 
In taking out two aces — say the ace of clubs 
and the ace of hearts, glance secretly at the 
top card of the pack. For the purpose of expla- 
nation let us assume that this '' key '^ card is 
the seven of spades. Now cut the pack into 
three heaps so that the top part of the pack will 



134 HOME ENTERTAINING 

form the middle heap. You must number the 
heaps in your mind from left to right, i, 2, 3. 
The top card of the middle heap is the seven 
of spades. Exhibit the ace of hearts, request- 
ing the spectators to remember the card, and 
place it on the middle pile. While you are 
exhibiting the second ace (the ace of clubs), 
move a little distance from the cards, and at 
this psychological moment, a friend, who acts 
as your confederate, (although the audience 
is not aware of the fact) transfers a few cards 
from either No. i or No. 3 to the top of the 
centre heap. You are, apparently, oblivious of 
this manoeuver, and place the ace of clubs 
on the No. i heap, concluding by placing No. 3 
on No. I and these on the middle heap. Inform 
the audience that you are about to illustrate 
for their benefit the surprising amount of affec- 
tion that exists between cards of the same value. 
For instance, kings associate with kings, queens 
with queens, jacks with jacks, and aces with 
aces; of all cards, you declare, the aces are the 
most affectionate. Between them the bonds 



HOME ENTERTAINING 135 

of sympathy are so strong that if they are 
separated only temporarily they will exert 
every effort to be reunited. This sympathy is 
especially strong between a red ace and a black 
ace — between a club and a heart, a diamond 
and a spade. In fact, each pair may be likened 
to the Siamese twins, except that the bond is 
sentimental rather than material. " You will 
observe,'^ adds the performer, " that the ace 
of clubs and the ace of hearts were placed in 
different parts of the deck, but so strong is the 
affection between these aces that I have not 
the sHghtest doubt they are at this moment 
reunited in some portion of the pack. Ah, 
you smile incredulously; but I assure you that 
what I say is literally true, and I am prepared 
to make my assertion good. Observe, pray, 
that I shall deal the cards one at a time on the 
table, and when I come to one of the aces, the 
other will be with it." The spectators, know- 
ing that the cards have been disarranged, 
smile in expectation of the performer's discom- 
fiture. The conjurer proceeds to deal the cards 



136 HOME ENTERTAINING 

from the bottom, thromng them face upward 
on the table. When the '' key '' card turns 
up the performer knows that the next card is 
an ace. He sHdes this ace back with the third 
finger of the left hand, and keeps on dealing 
until the other ace appears, when he throws 
out the first ace. A flashlight picture of the 
company at this moment would reveal an in- 
teresting study in chagrin. 

Detection of a Drawn Card by Color. Pre- 
viously separate the pack into two parts, 
placing all the red cards in one pile, and all 
the black cards in the other. One of these 
packs you conceal in your pocket. You let 
any person draw a card from the other pack, 
and while he is examining the card, substitute 
the pack in your pocket for the one you hold 
in your hand. Let him place his card in the 
pack you have taken from your pocket, and 
shuffle as much as you please. You wiU at once 
recognize the card he has drawn by the differ- 
ence of color. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 137 

Mathematical Detection of Card Thought 
Of. Arrange the first ten cards of a suit in 
a circle. Request some one to think of one of 
the exposed cards and to touch some other card 
in the circle. Mentally add the value of the 
card touched to the nimiber of cards displayed 
(lo), and then ask him to count the cards back- 
wards, until the number you have given is 
reached, beginning at the card touched, and 
reckoning that card as the number thought of. 
The card at which he stops will be the one 
mentally selected. 

For example, we will suppose the three was 
the card thought of, and the six was the card 
touched. Six added to lo makes i6. Then 
request the player to commence counting the 
cards backwards mentally from the nimiber 
thought of (three) at the number touched (six) 
and continue until i6 is named, touching each 
card as he counts. With finger on six he men- 
tally says " three; ^' the five-spot he calls four; 
the four, five; the three, six; the two, seven, 
and so on up to i6. The mental count 



138 HOME ENTERTAINING 

will end with the three-spot — the number 
thought of. 

The designation of this time after time, no 
matter what card is chosen, will seem little 
short of miraculous to the uninitiated, and will 
prove an unfailing amusement. 

Of course, the evolution of the number to 
be counted — i6 (or lo added to whatever 
card is touched) — must not be explained, 
and the apparent haphazard choice of various 
numbers, when the director says: '' Now 
count backward till you reach 20 this time,'^ 
or ^^ 12,'' or ^^ try to find any law you can if 
I say a little 19,'^ will not appear due to tact or 
finesse, but to be the result of some mysterious 
intuitive power. 

Passing a Card to Top of Pack. Take off 
the top card of the pack and show it. We will 
suppose it is the eight of hearts. Call atten- 
tion to it and put it back on the top of the 
pack. Then, without exposing the face of 
the card, take it off the top of the pack again 



HOME ENTERTAINING 139 

and put it in the centre of the pack. Do not 
push it fully in until you have held the pack up 
and shown that the card is what you said it 
was — the eight of hearts. Then square up 
the pack. Take off the top card and show it 
to your audience. It is the eight of hearts 
which has apparently jumped from the centre 
of the pack, where you put it, to the top. 

Some one may say, ^' You have two eights of 
hearts." Give the pack to be examined and 
your friends wiU find that the pack is quite 
regular. 

To do this, arrange the pack in such a way 
that the seven of hearts is on top, and the eight 
of hearts above that. When you show the top 
card you really sHde off the two top cards to- 
gether. Hold them with the thumb at one end 
and two fingers at the other and the first finger 
at one side. If you bend the card slightly, 
there will be less chance of any one noticing 
that you are holding two cards. You call at- 
tention to the fact that the top card is the 
eight of hearts, and put the two cards, still 



140 HOME ENTERTAINING 

held as one, back on the top of the pack. 
Then you draw off the top card, which is the 
seven of hearts, and slip it into the centre of 
the pack. Show part of the card just before 
you push it way in, and if you contrive to keep 
a finger over the index in the corner, nobody 
will know that the card is not the eight of 
hearts. 

It is now in the hands of the performer to 
make the rest of the trick as mysterious as 
possible. 

The Trick of " Thirty-one.^^ A trick often 
introduced by sporting men for the purpose of 
deceiving and making money is called '' thirty- 
one." It is played with the first six cards of 
each suit, — the aces in one row, the deuces 
in another, the threes in another; then the fours, 
fives, and sixes — all laid in rows. The object 
now will be to turn down cards alternately and 
endeavor to make thirty-one points by so 
turning, or as near to it as possible without 
overrunning it; the one who turns down a card, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 141 

the spots of which make thirty-one or so near 
it that the other cannot turn down one without 
overrunning it, wins. The chief point of this 
trick, is, to count so as to end with the fol- 
lowing numbers, namely 3, 10, 17, or 24. For 
example, we will suppose that you are to begin, 
you would commence with 3, your opponent 
would add 6, which would make 9; it would then 
be your policy to add i, and make 10; then, 
no matter what number he adds, he cannot 
prevent you from counting seventeen, which 
number gives you the command of the trick. 
We will suppose he adds six, and makes sixteen; 
then, you make 24, then he cannot possibly 
add any one number to count 31, as the highest 
number he can add is 6, which would only 
count 30, so that you can easily add the re- 
maining I, or ace, and make 31, 



SOAP-BUBBLES 

Blowing Soap-bubbles. Secure a lot of 
clean clay pipes, and to make your bubble so- 
lution, take a preserve-jar and fill two-thirds 
full of boiling water, add three ounces of finely 
shaven Castile soap, a teaspoonful of sugar and 
four tablespoonfuls of glycerine, shake this 
mixture thoroughly and then strain it through 
a piece of white cloth. Your solution is now 
ready for use. Strawberry or cranberry juice 
will make pink bubbles, and orange juice will 
make yellow ones. Any color may be obtained by 
the use of aniline dyes. It is better to let the 
solution stand two or three hours before using. 
Cover the dining-room table with a soft woolen 
cover, place as many finger-bowls around as 
guests, or one large bowl, and fill with the thick 
soapy water. Have ready a good-sized wicket, 
made by bending a wire and putting each end into 
a bottle, so it will stand firmly. Place it 

142 



HOME ENTERTAINING 143 

in the centre of the table and request the 
guests to choose sides. Present each boy 
with a clay pipe and each girl with a fan, to 
which is attached a tally card. Arrange the 
boys and girls on opposite sides of the table. 
The boy nearest the head of the table takes 
the bowl and with his pipe blows a bubble. 
His partner, or the girl opposite him, fans it, 
endeavoring to make it go through and pass the 
arch without breaking. If it passes success- 
fully, a gold star is placed on the tally; if 
it breaks before reaching the arch, a green 
star denotes the player's failure. Each boy 
may blow the number of bubbles agreed upon. 
After receiving their stars, the boy and girl 
pass to the foot of the table, and the next boy 
and girl move up and try their skill at blowing 
bubbles. The game is ended in six rounds. 

Fantastic Soap-bubbles. Ordinary soap-bub- 
bles are blown with a pipe, a straw, or small 
horn of some sort. If a straw is used, spHt 
one end into quarters, about one half -inch long. 



144 HOME ENTERTAINING 

and bend the parts back at right angles to the 
straw. The horn should be larger at one end, 
but, if you wish to obtain bubbles, as large as 
your head, you must have recourse to objects 
of quite different nature. Place around the 
body of a bottle a piece of common wire, and 
twist the ends together in order to form a handle 
for the ring which is thus obtained. Steep this 
ring in the soapy water. Take it out carefully, 
and you will perceive that the ring is furnished, 
on the inside, with a thin covering or skin of 
soapy water. Now hold the ring vertically 
before your mouth and blow gently but con- 
tinuously at the centre of the soapy covering. 
Fashion two rings with handles out of plain 
wire. The ring can be about six inches in 
diameter. Cover one of the rings with felt. 
With this ring and with practice, you can send 
the bubbles away up into the air, and keep a 
half-dozen floating at one time. Then blow 
a big bubble, holding the empty ring with a 
handle in the left hand, and under the pipe. 
When the bubble grows large, it will stick to 



HOME ENTERTAINING 145 

the ring. Now, carefully take out the pipe, 
dip into the soapy water and put the bowl of 
the pipe up inside of the ring into the big 
bubble, and blow a small one inside. Then, 
with a swing and a side movement, liberate 
both bubbles into the air. It may take a few 
failures to make a success of it. With two felt 
rings, ^^ battledore and shuttlecock '^ can be 
successfully played with soap-bubbles. Take 
a clay pipe, fill up with cotton wadding loosely 
and keep in place at mouth of bowl by a wire 
screen. Wet cotton with gasoline. Let the 
bubbles float in air and light them with 
candle, and they will explode with a big flame. 
Smoke-bubbles may be made by blowing in 
smoke after the bubble has been well started. 

Rebounding Bubbles. A good game is to 
have a small sheet held by a number of chil- 
dren and blow the bubbles upon this, then they 
can be sent flying by drawing the sheet taut. 
Many ways may be devised to make blowing 
soap-bubbles attractive. 



^ 



FORFEITS 



Grasp the right ankle by the right hand, and, 
standing on the left leg, bend it until the right 
knee touches the floor, then rise slowly to a 
standing position again. The left hand must 
be kept extended all the time and must touch 
nothing. The right foot must not be allowed 
to touch the floor, nor the ankle released from 
the right hand. 

A large bottle is placed on its side. The 
forfeit payer is seated upon this, with the heel 
of his right foot resting upon the floor and the 
heel of his left against the toe of the right. 
A good sized needle is then given him, and a 
thread, which he must endeavor to pass through 
the needle's eye without losing his balance. 

Set an ordinary chair front downward on 
the floor in such a way that the legs and back 

146 



HOME ENTERTAINING 147 

are horizontal. Ask the forfeit payer to kneel 
on the lower bar and to recover mth his lips 
an object placed on the other end of the chair. 

^ To put one hand where the other cannot 
touch it. — This is performed by grasping the 
right elbow with the left hand. 

To place an object on the floor in such a 
manner that no one can jump over it. — This 
is done by placing it close against the corner. 

Hold an ankle in one hand and walk around 
the room. 

For a forfeit, a person is directed to compare 
any one of the company to some object and 
to explain in what way he resembles this 
object. 

The victim stands on a chair and is posed as 
a living statue by members of the company 
in^succession according to their various and 
sometimes very original conceptions, such as 
placing the head, shutting one eye, opening 
the mouth, placing the arm, hand, or foot 



148 HOME ENTERTAINING 

to suit the fancy, or make him assmne any 
position. 

Place a stool on the floor against a wall. 
Stand from the wall, with the feet twice the 
width of the stool away. Stoop down and seize 
the stool by the top in both hands and place 
the top of your head against the wall, your 
back being almost horizontal. Lift the stool 
from the ground without assistance, or try, 
at any rate. 

Stick a pin in the centre of the crown of 
a hat, allowing the head to project about 
half an inch, and ask the forfeit-payer to ex- 
tract the pin with the teeth, the crown of the 
hat being previously blacked with burnt cork. 



HALLOWE'EN 

Decorations. On account of the great variety 
of houses, decorations for Hallowe'en and the 
arrangements for entertainment must be 
planned according to the situation, and indi- 
vidual convenience. The following are some 
suggestions. 

The party may be ushered into a room deco- 
rated for the occasion with autumn leaves, 
yellow pumpkins, and anything else that may 
suggest itself to the host, and lighted with 
pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns and candles. All the 
lights are covered, some with red and some 
with black gauze, cambric, or paper shades. 
The openings of the doors and windows may 
also be covered with red and black cambric. 
False faces, as ugly as possible, are placed 
about the room. Skulls of papier-mache are 

149 



150 HOME ENTERTAINING 

a great addition to the decoration, and bones 
of any description, thoroughly cleansed, are 
effective. 

If there is an open fire, the host or an initiated 
guest may place upon it, from time to time and 
as surreptitiously as possible, chemical pow- 
ders that burn blue, green, or red. All the 
lights are turned low, the room being lighted 
only sufficiently to permit moving about with- 
out faUing over the furniture and to show 
the decorations. 

The room may be decorated with festoons 
of drab yarn cobwebs, presided over with 
great spiders cut from black and yellow flan- 
nel, or imitation insects from toy stores. 

Invitations to the gentlemen should read, 
^^ Please wear a black mask." Those to the 
ladies, ^^ Please come as a ghost. '^ 

Receiving Guests. As the guests arrive, 
they may be greeted by one or two huge ghosts 
nine feet high in a conspicuous place. A small 
goblin may be concealed behind the flowing 



HOME ENTERTAINING 151 

draperies of this ponderous apparition, swinging 
the ghostly figure slowly forward to salute 
each approaching guest. When the guests 
arrive they are met at the door by a ghost, 
and when the last one has arrived, they are all 
ushered into this weird place. As the guests 
go into this room, they should be blindfolded, 
and have presented to them an old glove filled 
with wet bran and chilled on ice. There may be 
also a piece of wet fur and a prickly pin ball in 
the hands of a ghost with instructions to quietly 
touch with these uncanny objects, the hands 
or faces of other guests. At the sound of a 
muflOied gong, the party is conducted to a cham- 
ber of horrors. As each one enters this place, 
a huge paper bag may be burst over his 
head and a far-away voice be heard sounding 
through a garden hose. 

Running water splashing over a cow-bell 
tied to a faucet will give the sound of rushing 
water and also keep the bell toUing dismally. 
Newspapers cut into strips and nailed to the 
cross-beams dangle about the heads of the 



152 HOME ENTERTAINING 

victims, and a hidden electric fan sets the 
papers in motion and adds damp breezes to the 
charm of this pleasant region. The bandages 
are now removed and alcohol and salt fires fur- 
nish a dim light and give the party a ghastly 
appearance. Great care should always be taken 
in doing this. Some of the sights to be seen 
are described in the following sections. 

The Heads of Bluebeard's Wives. This 
effect is easily produced. A rod is extended 
horizontally across the rear of the room, about 
six feet from the floor; from this a sheet is hung, 
the bottom reaching and tacked to the floor to 
keep it flat like a white wall. Young ladies 
standing at intervals behind the sheet pro- 
trude their heads through perpendicular slits 
cut at the proper height to suit the stature of 
each lady; the upper part of the slit is fastened 
closely around the throat by a pin at the back 
of the neck. A strip of red flannel is fastened 
around the throat where the neck comes in 
contact with the sheet, and a few splashes of 



HOME ENTERTAINING 153 

carmine on the sheet below each head produce 
the appearance of blood. The hair of each is 
gathered up and fastened to the rod above 
by a piece of ribbon. The face of each is pow- 
dered, and the eyes, with a dash of lead-color 
under them, are kept closed. At a little distance 
off the effect is startlingly real. 

The Severed Head. This always causes a 
sensation and should not be suddenly exposed 
to the nervous, but the operation is not so 
terrible as might be imagined. 

A large table, covered with a cloth su£&ciently 
long to reach to the floor all around and com- 
pletely hide all beneath, is placed in the centre 
of the room. A boy or girl with soft, silky hair, 
being selected to represent the head, must lie 
upon his back under the table, entirely con- 
cealed, excepting that portion of his face above 
the bridge of his nose. The rest is under the 
table-cloth. 

His hair must now be carefully combed down, 
to represent whiskers, and a face must be 



154 HOME ENTERTAINING 

marked upon the cheeks and forehead; the 
false eyebrows, nose and mouth, with mous- 
tache, must be strongly marked with black, 
and the real eyebrows covered with a little 
powder or flour. The face should also be pow- 
dered to a death-like pallor, and the effect is 
very startKng. 

The horror of this illusion may be intensi- 
fied by having a subdued Kght in the room in 
which the exhibition has been arranged. 

Ghost Stories. The party can now return to 
a suitable place for games. If the parlor is a 
small one, each one is expected to tell a ghost 
story. 

The Unearthly Look. Take a half-pint of 
spirits and, having warmed it, put a handful 
of salt with it into a basin; then set it on fire 
and it will have the effect of making every 
person look hideous. This must be performed 
in a room. Be careful that no sudden draught 
blows the flame upon one's clothing, or any 
other inflammable substance. 



HOME ENTERTAINING 155 

Luminous Writing. Fix a small piece of 
solid phosphorus in a quill, and write with it 
on paper; if the paper be then placed in a dark 
room the writing will appear limiinous. 

The Floating Candle. Here is an amusing 
and inoffensive diversion which looks very much 
like one of our Hallowe'en games called '' duck- 
ing for apples." 

The young folks are ranged around a tub of 
water in which a piece of candle is floating, 
and a prize is offered to him, who, without 
touching the tub with his hands, will remove 
the candle from the water by his mouth alone. 

This may look very simple and very easy to 
most of my readers; but let them try it. This 
trial they may make at home, with a bucket 
of water instead of a tub, and a piece of India- 
rubber instead of a candle; and they will be 
surprised at the result. Bring your mouth as 
close as possible to the article and inhale it 
with your breath, while seizing it with your 
lips. Apples may also be used. 



156 HOME ENTERTAINING 

Ornamented Apples. If you plan to hold a 
Hallowe'en party next fall, you can prepare 
a part of the fun this summer. Cut out in 
stout cloth the initials of whomsoever you 
intend to invite. Paste the initials securely on 
the sunny side of apples. When the apples are 
ripe, the initials will remain in light yellow on 
a red background. The fun of eating fruit 
marked with one's own initials or monogram 
will be an unusual one for your guests. Should 
you have the detail of your party pretty well 
in mind, you will readily think of a number of 
devices which you may '' appleize " in this 
fashion. Witches, for instance, can be thus 
'^ painted ^' on the fruit. 

Finding the Candle. This is an admirable 
penance. The victim, having been shown the 
position of the candle, is securely blindfolded, 
and after having been turned around once or 
twice, is requested to go and blow it out. 

The Full Moon. An original moon can be 
made from a cheese-box covered with cotton 



HOME ENTERTAINING 157 

cloth, on which a very jolly face is painted. 
This can be drawn up by a string and pulley, 
and illuminated by a candle placed behind it. 

Cabinet Manifestations. The medium has 
a boy with her about seven years of age and 
quite small. He comes in with her, under her 
skirt or cloak, and is not noticed. She enters a 
cabinet, passes her hands through openings in 
the sides of the cabinet and her hands are held 
by a committee, or, her hands may be securely 
tied together before going into the cabinet, and 
all the usual cabinet work goes on. The boy 
rings the bells, plays musical instrument, etc., 
etc. The cabinet is made of some black 
material and the transparent gauze is of some 
light color. The boy may be dressed all in 
black. 

Spirit Pictures. The performer shows a 
wooden frame, on which is a piece of cloth, 
both sides of which are shown, and this is 
placed on an easel. A lamp is then placed be- 
hind a cloth, thus rendering it transparent and 



158 HOME ENTERTAINING 

impossible for any one to touch from behind 
without being seen. Lights are then lowered a 
trifle, a httle music, and a spirit picture is 
slowly precipitated upon the cloth in colors, 
this being visible to every one present. 

For this experiment, procure the following 
ingredients from some druggist: sulphate of 
iron, for blue; nitrate of bismuth, for yel- 
low; sulphate of copper, for brown; make 
solutions separately of each, by dissolving a 
small quantity of each ingredient in warm 
water. Now make a solution of prussiate 
of potash, and put it in a bottle atomizer. 
With a brush for each color, make a picture, 
landscape, portrait or, anything you desire, 
on a screen of unbleached muslin. When dry, 
these are invisible. Show the screen and set 
it on an easel in front of cabinet. Slightly 
dampen the mushn and place a lamp back of it 
on a chair, lower lights a trifle; your assistant 
or medium in cabinet takes the atomizer, and 
from behind sprays all over the back of screen 
with the solution of prussiate of potash, which 



HOME ENTERTAINING 159 

slowly brings colors out. The eiffect is weird, 
and, although perhaps not artistic, it is a novelty 
and is apparently done by unseen agency. 
If a light is placed at back of screen, the audi- 
ence can see that no one approaches the screen. 
A little music covers the sound of the atomizer. 
Always see that the atomizer is screwed up air- 
tight before using it. 

Parlor Magic. Make a hole in one side of 
each of six candles, cutting through until the 
wick is severed. These holes must be at va- 
rious distances from the top — different in 
each candle. Now, if you should light one of 
these candles, it would burn steadily until the 
flame got down to the hole, when the cut in 
the wick would cause the candle to go out. 
If you should light them all together they would 
go out at different times, as the holes are at 
different places. This is where your trick comes 
in. 

Place your candles in a row on a table, 
with the holes away from your audience, and 
then light all six. Now, you begin to relate 



160 HOME ENTERTAINING 

a story about a Uttle girl who was alone in 
the house and was afraid of the dark, and who 
lighted six candles to keep up her courage. 
She heard queer noises about the house, and 
drew close to the light, and then (pointing to 
the candle with the hole nearest the top) 
the first candle went out! Of course you time 
your first words, so that you say '^ out '' just 
before the flame reaches the hole. As you 
reach the second point in your tale the second 
candle goes out, and so on throughout the rest 
of the six. You may have the holes vary but 
a fraction of an inch in their distances from the 
top of the candle, and tell a very short story, 
or you may have your tale a long one, with the 
distances of the holes from the top of the can- 
dle, varying an inch or so. By first Hghting 
one candle and watching it burn for a few min- 
utes you can tell almost exactly how long the 
flame will take to reach a given point. If you 
do not have the candles go out in rotation, 
but skip around from the first to the fifth, 
then to the second, to the sixth, the fourth and 



HOME ENTERTAINING 161 

third, you can still further mystify your audi- 
ence, and if your story be well told the efifect 
will be very pretty indeed. 

The Demon Bell. A small bell is examined 
and found to have no clapper. It is then pre- 
sumed it can make no sound, save by visible 
means. However, the performer sets it upon 
a small examined table, which stands quite close 
to audience, and at command, the bell begins to 
ring. It obeys every demand made upon it, 
yet no means of producing sound can be found. 

To produce this effect, use a small call-bell, 
such as used on a table. A black thread is 
carried across the stage, and one end is perma- 
nently fastened, while the other is in the hands 
of an assistant, who stands out of sight. In the 
middle of thread is fastened a small shot. 
The assistant uses this as a clapper, and when 
examination is desired, he drops the thread and 
shot on the floor, where they will not be visible. 

The Animated Skull. This is a model in 
papier-mache, and being hollow, is very serv- 



162 HOME ENTERTAINING 

iceable. It is caused to rise from the hat by 
means of a black thread, which is carried 
through a staple immediately over the per- 
former's table, thence through another staple 
out of sight and down to the assistant. 

The Perilous Ring. Put flour on a plate 
in the shape of a high pyramid. On the very 
tip of the pyramid place a ring. Arrange the 
guests in line, and have each one in turn cut 
away part of the flour with a knife, warning 
them not to cut near enough to the ring to 
make it fall, or the one doing so will suffer 
a dreadful penalty. If the crowd is small each 
will have several turns. The flour must be 
cut away until the ring falls. It becomes very 
exciting toward the end, as each one tries to 
cut away as little as possible. When the ring 
finally drops, the unlucky one must pick it 
out of the plate with his teeth. Of course he 
gets flour all over his nose and chin. 

Nose and Goggle Party. To fun-loving peo- 
ple who enjoy the grotesque, great sport will 



HOME ENTERTAINING 163 

be found in giving a Nose and Goggle Party. 
Here two objects will be gained: merriment 
and disguise. 

Each guest wears a false nose and goggles. 
The nose may be purchased, or clever fingers 
can make it of heavy cardboard covered with 
chamois. 

Jack-o'-Lanterns. The effect of these may 
be heightened by sticking pins through pump- 
kin seeds and placing them in the comers of 
the eyes for the irises and into the mouth for 
teeth. This makes the lantern exceptionally 
attractive and " realistic." 

The Surprising Candle. This is a very 
clever contrivance, calculated to cause conster- 
nation and astonishment to any individual with 
ordinary nerves. 

Supposing yourself to be the victim, how 
would you feel if, when retiring to bed in some 
strange estabhshment, just as you were think- 
ing of blowing out the candle, it should suddenly 
explode with no small report, the light be ex- 



164 HOME ENTERTAINING 

tinguished, and in place of the flame a small 
ghost with outstretched arms would appear, 
shining with a phosphorescent glow? I ven- 
ture to think you would be very, very much 
surprised; and yet this is the effect produced by 
this ingenious construction. 

By examination it will be found that the 
lower half of the candle is really a thin card- 
board case, enameled to resemble a wax candle, 
and containing a small ghost whose arms fly 
apart when released from their bondage. To 
the bottom of this ghost is affixed a wire spring. 

The upper half of the candle is perfectly 
ordinary, and merely stuck on to the lower 
portion; the joint being hidden by a rubbing 
of wax. 

On top of the ghost's head a few gunpowder 
caps, such as are supplied at toy shops for 
children's pistols, are laid. 

Now the candle can be lighted, and it will 
burn quite respectably until it reaches the caps, 
which, by their explosion, cause everybody's 
attention to be drawn in that one 1 direction, 



HOME ENTERTAINING 165 

just in time to see the appearance of the ghost, 
it being forced upwards by the action of 
the spring simultaneously with the discharge. 
The wicked little image should be liberally 
coated with luminous paint, and the effect can 
be better imagined than described. 

The foregoing are only a few of a vast num- 
ber of similar diversions, but they are ones 
most to be commended, and will be sufficient 
to produce many an hour of harniless mirth, 
and very likely lead to the acquirement of 
much useful knowledge, as well. 



THE END. 



L 8 1912 



L&l\p'31 



